The Third & The History of Tank
by Mirrajay
Summary: Tank Briefs is hopping across time to seek revenge for her brother's death. Cell is on the hunt and Android 22 is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, in the future, the android trio is merciless but for Tank and Trunks life goes on… Mirai sister OC centric, AU Cell saga
1. The Third 1: Third Shift in Time

The Third & The History of Tank

Preface

This is technically two stories in one: (1) Tank charging after cell in the main timeline and (2) her life growing up under siege of the androids. As much as I love explaining things in the story (I had no plans for a preface while writing...) I think some early explanations would be helpful.

Tank Briefs (as in 'tank' top) is Bulma's second child, born soon after the activation of Androids 17, 18 and 22. In reference to canon chronology, she originates from the third timeline also known as Cell's timeline. The first timeline being the main one we're all familiar with, the second being future Trunk's time and the third being Cell and Tank's. Just a refresher since this timeline was only ever seen in flashback during the series, Tank's time is similar to Trunks' in terms of android destruction. Her existence and inevitable interference in the past, shifted events a bit. One being that another cyborg exists, known as Android 22.

Unlike her mother and brother, she has dark hair and dark eyes, which makes her curious about the father she has never met. She feels uneasy about her mixed heritage, especially being the only female demi-saiyan. She's passionate, temperamental, intelligent about sciences like her mother and impatient like her father. She is closest to Trunks since he understands their plight and heavy responsibility. They slow drift apart as they age, partially due to their opposing views on how to deal with the androids and past.

Please note that I am NOT trying to stick extremely close to canon (e.g. here's my oc, but nothing changes!) because that would be boring. There are plenty of OC/daughter centric stories that are almost canon and part of my lack of satisfaction from reading those stories prompted me to try. However I am trying to not butcher the Cell saga (my favorite in the series) so this will be a process of having Tank change the flow of the events but still have what was awesome about the saga.

* * *

The Third: Chapter 1

May 12th, 767 Timeline #1

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon as Androids 16, 17 and 18 traveled—occasionally off-roaded—on their leisurely search for the Son home.

By the clouds, high above their respective road, a stranger appeared from nowhere. Clad in a gray, tattered Capsule Corp. jumpsuit and hat, the mysterious figure configured a handheld computer to hone on the van. Spliced wires hung off the device, sparking occasionally, but the figure remained midair, waiting for the device to identify the van's mechanical passengers. The van was nearing an inclined turn around the mouth of the mountain range when the device beeped and showed two out of three matches.

The stranger put away the computer then reached into a pocket and revealed a small clear locked case. After carefully sliding in the lock code, the case snapped open and a tiny device was removed. With a slight drag on a side switch, the device glittered with green lighting to signal a working battery.

The person extended the device's antenna and slowly moved a gentle palm over the large red button on the device. Eyes still fixed on the van, the stranger pressed the button with an echoing _click! _

Nothing happened.

The van continued on into the mountains, towards its destination.

The person then fell hundreds of feet but slowed her fall enough to painlessly and gracefully land on the paved road. Under the brim of a cap, she stared on at the pink van as it drove in the opposing direction. She pressed the button again, hoping the closer approximation in distance helped.

_Click!_

Nothing happened. No swerving of the van, no sudden stops, no crashing—simply, nothing.

Hoping to have picked the wrong automobile, the person checked the tiny hand-sized computer with irritated grunt. Another scan said Androids 17 and 18 were traveling in _that_ vehicle. Why they weren't flying and causing destruction was mindfully pondered, however such questions were shooed away as the larger problem involved a dysfunctional deactivation remote.

The stranger gritted her teeth with frustration, but soothed the anger with slow breathing. She replaced the device into its protective case.

_I can try taking on the two androids by myself. A new remote would be unnecessary also a dozen formal introductions wouldn't be needed._

_But..._

If the computer's calculations were correct, there was an unrecognized _third _android of unknown strength occupying the van with Androids 17 and 18.

The stranger typed furiously on her computer and even gently smacked the edge of the screen. With a fussy spark, it affirmed that it did not recognize the android. She wondered her computer was malfunctioning and the android was in fact Android 22. Unfortunately…regardless of a malfunction, three against one was not smart.

_I've made that mistake once already. Two against one had not been a good idea. Today, three against one is definitely a bad idea. _She stared at the one mismatch on the screen and murmured, "Not Android #22…then which one?"

_If I let them go now though, how long do I have until the hunt begins? I know the cockroach is hiding somewhere in this time. I can feel it. _

The stranger knew better than to draw attention to herself, at least, it was not yet the right time. Encountering the bug was inevitable. Especially if the bug was officially stuck that timeline with her and Android 22. He would eventually show himself and then that would be the moment to be presented to the world.

_Then again_, she checked her watch. If the date was correct—it was very possible that the date glowing on the screen was incorrect—it meant events critical for the future were happening at that present moment. Who was still alive? Who was dead? Was the enemy even still in hiding? The young stranger also wanted, even with a reluctant inhale of breath, to make her presence clear and nonthreatening to the Earth's forces. _Again, _she knew better due to a prior mistake.

The stranger decided that she needed to gather more information, but unfortunately, that involved leaving the androids to carry on. The girl clenched her jaw, still watching as the van approached a tight corner now far ahead down the road. As much as the stranger absolutely hated the idea, she realized that she was unable to proceed with the original plans and thus more information was needed to amend those plans to create a potentially successful one. That's why, when the van turned over the corner, she grudgingly remained in her position, allowing the van with its deadly, yet endangered occupants to disappear from sight.

When the bumper of the van swerved right behind the mountain, the figure pictured her destination. She counted four energies on the compound and picked the one nonchalantly watering plants in the garden. She pressed two fingers near the brim of her cap for concentration then disappeared again.

* * *

Balancing baby Trunks on her hip, Bulma Briefs furiously smashed buttons on her laboratory printer. "Come on—I swear! These machines were sent from hell!" Her angry tone bothered the once tranquil baby in her arms. The sensitive baby huffed, pounding his fists in the air as he cried for his mother's affection. "Oh, oh, there, there." Bulma set her camera device aside and ignored the fussy printer to calm the now fussy baby in her arms.

Baby Trunks pouted as snot from his nose dripped onto Bulma's shoulder. Reaching for the closest box of wipes, Bulma flicked up a cloth and gently wiped her son's nose and cheeks. "See? Isn't that better, Trunks?" She mused to the little boy whose eyes opened wide as if to tell his mom that he was too young to give a verbal response.

Bulma paused for a moment, shushing Trunks for a second. From the upstairs common room by the front door of the first floor of Capsule Corp, Bulma heard a soft familiar jingle. Sighing to herself, of course, her phone, which she, the genius, was smart enough to leave in her purse, which was on a couch in the upstairs common room. Quickly, she balanced Trunks on her hip again, freed an arm, and to swiftly jog up the stairs.

"Coming! Don't hang up!" She yelled to her phone.

From further down the wing, the unnamed stranger slipped noiselessly into the laboratory. Like expected, the blonde gardener hadn't been perturbed by the intruder.

Upstairs, the person had found a bunch of magazines, which determined the present month and year, but she still needed confirmation on the particular day.

A computer screen was brightly lit with dozens of calculations and diagrams. The stranger didn't bother to read the calculations, but focused on the mid day newspaper opened flat by the keyboard.

Immediately, the stranger checked the date. 12th of May, year 763. She checked her watch and sighed a breath in relief, only a couple of hours behind thankfully. Entire days were critical, she didn't let herself forget that fact, but it could have been worse. She quickly skimmed over the front page, which was consumed by news of the morning attack nine miles South of South city. She paid close attention to the damaged caused. Majority of the high-rise buildings had been destroyed, and over 90% of the island's population had been murdered. She bit her lip; no, it was not the cockroach's nor 22's work, which meant there was still time.

Bulma would be an excellent contact, but she needed to figure out how to introduce herself without upsetting the young mother and baby...

The stranger dropped the newspaper and approached the printer. With a shaky hand, she lifted a large photograph and brought it close to her face. Suddenly, she shut her eyes and looked again, her breath becoming shallow. "Well, I'll be damned."

Something spiked the stranger's attention to the door. Abruptly, the stranger spun and saw a nervously sweating Bulma, clutching her baby tightly to her chest, mumbling softly into the phone.

"Another android, another one, no, didn't I just say one? I don't KNOW WHICH ONE, I never saw them, remember? Dark hair, fema—KYAHHHH!" Bulma shrieked, dropping her phone as the intruder made eye contact with her. Baby Trunks screamed against his mother, shocked by the loud noise.

The phone's screen shattered and the battery snapped off into two pieces.

The stranger sighed in exasperation, feeling a migraine coming on. Whom ever Bulma was speaking with would be speeding like a missile straight for Capsule Corp. at that very second. She had no idea who, how many, how powerful, or how far away the speakers were on the other end of the conversation. The stranger wearily sighed again, pressing a palm to her forehead, knowing that if she wanted to survive, she needed to calm Bulma as soon as possible.

This was the part she hated most.

"Bulma Briefs?" The stranger began, softly, and intentionally nonthreatening.

"NOOO! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?! YOU'RE ONE OF GERO'S MONSTERS AREN'T YOU?!" Bulma shouted over Baby Trunks' increasingly loud cries.

The girl's head pounded from their ear-piercing cries, but she gratefully deciphered many things from Bulma's outburst. First, the Z warriors had known previously about the Gero's androids. Second, Bulma had not seen the androids. And lastly, Gero really did make more androids than 17, 18 and 22, which would explain the ID mismatch.

"No, moth—" The stranger bit her tongue to pause and not mess up the crucial introduction. "I'm not an android."

Bulma stopped yelling and sniffled. "_Snif_, _snif_, you're not?" Baby Trunks' screeches were fading to mere throaty cries. "Then who—_what_ are you?"

The stranger exhaled slowly, careful to reveal information slowly. "My name is Tank, and I'm...human."

Bulma tiptoed into the lab cautiously, a protective hand over the back of her son's head. "You said that...reluctantly."

Tank couldn't help but chuckle. _Should have known that Bulma was not going to make it easy._ She never did. "That will be explained soon. Depending on how soon the others arrive." The second statement to drifted off into a whisper, while Tank stayed alert for any impending energy.

Baby Trunks' crying calmed to whimpers to which his mother tenderly patted his back. Tank looked on at the baby in her arms. He rubbed his distressed face side to side, undecided about the stranger.

Bulma's brows narrowed seriously. It had been three years since a teenage boy, whom she learned to be Trunks from the future, came to Goku to inform him about a tragic trail of events that needed to be changed. He had never said anything about a young girl named Tank. "Then, why are you here?" Bulma stepped forward, quickly glimpsing over the exquisite laboratory.

Tank followed her glimpse and figured she had meant why trespass on Capsule Corp. grounds. "Again, a more satisfying reason will be explained soon, but honestly, I figured this would be a good place to start."

Both of them immediately stared down to the photograph in Tank's hand. Bulma looked at the photo then at Tank's face. _Hmm_, the mother thought. Tank unconsciously stepped back, blushing from Bulma's investigative stare. It registered again that Trunks was still a baby and maybe Bulma wouldn't have enough information to connect the dots. Tank hadn't been born yet.

Bulma scrutinized Tank's rounded chin and pronounced cheek bones with a squint. "You seem familiar..."

Tank's cheeks burned from the rush in her blood. She backpeddled to make space between her and Bulma. As the mother leaned forward to speculate, Tank's shoulders stiffened from discomfort.

"Where do I know you?" Bulma examined Tank from head to toe, giving Tank the urge to turn away.

"We've haven't met before." Tank uttered awkwardly.

"Hmm," Bulma hummed aloud speculatively. Finally she smiled and winked, "Alright."

Tank's tense shoulders dropped from surprise of how easily Bulma accepted her vague answers. "Just alright?" She mumbled.

Bulma's trusting smile grew wider. She nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, yes, lots of weird things have been happening these last few years, today especially. Yep, best just to go with the flow of it until it sorts itself out." She stuck her tongue out at baby Trunks who gleefully laughed.

Tank opened her mouth to say something but was still too stunned. Maybe this was going to be easy after all.

Suddenly, instincts grabbed her attention and she lifted her chin to extend her senses. Tank counted and calculated the approaching strength. Three of them. All strong, but two of them especially.

"Huh? What is it?" Bulma asked.

Rushed steps echoed down the stairs.

"Bulma!"

"Mother!"

Tank was startled when Krillin and young Gohan ran in, bombarding Bulma and the baby with concern, but she did a double take when adult _Trunks _bounded into the laboratory. He didn't even noticed Tank at first, too busy checking his mother and present counterpart for injury and distress.

Tank had recognized the three men who ran panting without breath into the laboratory, but her strangeness to them was apparent as they turned to her and prepared defensive stances. She stared at each of them, slowly absorbing the details as they presented themselves in her head. Gohan was no older than ten years of age. If a future Trunks was visiting this timeline, then that meant that he had killed Frieza.

Again, she was going to have to confirm this with them once they cleared up this misunderstanding. She limply stood, facing them, aware of the potential consequences of leaving her defenses completely open. Any moment out of defense-simply curling her fingers into a fist-could be interpreted as instigation.

"Are you familiar with this one, Trunks?" Krillin motioned to his right at the taller man, his serious gaze never leaving Tank. His arm was clawed to defend, his other hand closed in a fist ready to attack with his knees slightly bent, balanced and ready to go.

Trunks could not contain his disbelief. _Another _one? Trunks frantically shook his head. "I've never seen this android before..."

Bulma dramatically pushed Gohan and Trunks aside to kill the tension between Tank and the boys. "Oh, chill out, guys, she's not an android."

Gohan and Krillin gasped, sharing a matching expression of surprise.

Gohan stuttered. "Agh—what? Bulma? How do you know that for sure?" He leaned around Bulma to see Tank again as if to look for clues as to decide if she was an android.

A tiny half-smile swept across Tank's mouth. She could never get used to watching Gohan as a little boy who was so much younger than her.

"Well, we did some talking and she told me that she was human." Bulma answered with a laugh, causing a round of sweat-dropping from Krillin and Gohan.

Krillin cocked an eyebrow and bravely proceeded forward. Trunks still hadn't so much as flinched from his position, still ready to attack.

"Hmm," Krillin speculated as he circled the girl, muscles still taut and ready to defend at any given moment. The mere fact that she wasn't _attacking _him had already won her some trust. _The animation in her eyes is a good indication_, Krillin noted, remembering the pair's icy blue eyes.

When the androids had approached Krillin earlier, how could he forget their dull but confident statures? If anything, the girl in front of him was nervous, a far cry from the bored androids from before.

Her droopy, bloodshot eyes were bagged with purple circles. _The androids from before had unlimited power so if she's was an android, I doubt that she would look so tired._

Another important detail was the lack of the Red Ribbon Army symbol on her jacket. The only logo he spotted was the Capsule Corp. marking on her jacket.

_Nice dark hair, dark violet eyes...she's pretty cute actually— _The others watched as Krillin suddenly blushed then shook his head as if to dismiss a thought.

"Bulma, when you said dark hair, I thought you meant Android 17." Krillin gave a shrill laugh, which whizzed out awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

"But then—" Trunks began inquisitively, still narrowed on Tank. "Who is she?"

Trunks' words seemed to float between them and Tank for a while. Finally, Tank inhaled a calming breath, quickly glancing at four eager faces. "My name is Tank and I'm not from this time." It still felt odd to directly say it, but Tank had said it so many times.

Especially to them.

"What?! It's not possible..." Trunks gawked, his squint gone, his wide eyes staring into Tank.

Gohan whoa-ed, grunting thoughtfully, remembering his disbelief when Trunks first came to their time period to warn them of the androids. Krillin clenched his jaw, his brows shaking, officially overwhelmed with news of this unexpected visitor on top of everything that was happening. Krillin peered up at Trunks' shaky, astonished stance. Even _Trunks_ didn't know about this girl. However, Krillin wasn't willing to be reckless with so much as stake.

"But—how could you two not know each othe—" Krillin began but Tank interrupted him.

"I _do _know Trunks." Tank answered, causing Gohan and Krillin to whoa again. "Trunks should know me as well."

Trunks' mouth fell open with a bead of sweat running down his temple.

"I know all of you." Tank panned from left to right, meeting eyes with each of them. "Krillin, Trunks, Bulma, Gohan..."

Baby Trunks gave a sudden wail, his tiny face glaring at her. Tank smiled at the baby.

"And of course, baby Trunks." Seeing Trunks as a baby was another thing that Tank couldn't fully wrap her head around. Sure, she had seen pictures, but that was nothing to seeing a live baby bouncing in his mother's arms.

"But I've never met you." Trunks uttered deeply, another bead of sweat gliding to his neck.

It was Tank's turn to groan, but in disappointment. Her focus flickered then dove to the floor, sadly. That confirmed it. She didn't exist in his time.

"Then...how?" Gohan trailed off then broke his gaze on Tank, studying the grain on the floor. The thick tension in his body was just beginning to lessen, yet Gohan was still unsure. They all were.

Tank bit her lip. She knew of a single sure way to convince them—everyone—that she was who she said. One transformation would suffice. But, she still didn't want to give her position away to her enemies.

The eagerness of the four faces in front of her faded into reluctance. Tank didn't need to be told the details of the day to understand the Z warriors' devastation. She always thought introductions were the worst part. However, being the barer of bad news, especially during those trying times, was by far the worst part. Unfortunately, she had ample practice of informing Earth's forces that 17 and 18 were the lesser of their worries.

However, Tank was not going to deliver such despairing news in Bulma's laboratory. She still needed to gain their trust. "Please," everyone lifted their sullen faces due to the supple tone in her voice. "I need to know now where you found this?" She displayed the photograph, reaching out with two hands, pointing to a large structure covered nearly entirely in moss.

Bulma checked the baby in her arms, grinning to see that Trunks had fallen asleep. Tank peeked on the little boy and stifled a giggle when she heard his soft snores. "If you promise not to wake the youngster, you can fly with me." She offered Tank.

"But...mother," Trunks grunted, upset by his mother's willingness to accept the stranger so quickly. "How do you know you can trust her? Especially with taking her to the time machine?" His head then snapped to Tank's direction in obvious suspicion.

"Hmm," Bulma hummed, thinking three years into the past. "The same reason we all trusted you when you came to warn us about the androids. Just a hunch. And so far it hasn't back-fired."

Trunks' fists shook at his sides with uncertainty. "If you're taking her to see the time machine then I'm coming with you." Trunks declared, quickly checking Tank's expression to see if she had unmasked any evil intentions.

During the hushed exchange, Tank glanced about for a writing utensil. She grabbed one and scribbled something on the back of the time-machine photo. She left the photo by the keyboard.

When she felt Trunks' pressing glare, Tank merely wrapped her jacket more tightly around her for the sake of doing something with her hands. Even with the computer fans blowing a constantly thick flow of air in the laboratory, it was hardly cold.

Tank knew that they hadn't realized how grave and imperative the situation was yet and their lack of rush made her restless. However, even if she told them everything, why would they believe her? Maybe, by a lucky twist of fate, Tank had beat the cockroach with time, and maybe she could spare them the burden of knowing.

"Gohan, Krillin?" Trunks whirled to them respectively.

Both didn't need time to consider, they each made noises of agreement in their throats and nodded to Trunks and each other.

The tension between Tank and the three began to grow again. The pressure was building within Tank to share her answers to their questions and for them to answer her questions. Bulma left the lab to prepare the transport, mumbling something about "the more, the merrier."

"Oh, and Tank?" Bulma back-peddled, leaning back by the door to receive acknowledgment from Tank. "If you follow me, I can direct you towards a shower and fresh clothes. We should be..." Bulma glanced over the girl again, "about the same size."

Tank opened her mouth to protest, but even stepping forward reminded her how of dingy her clothes felt against her skin.

Being constantly on the move required certain sacrifices. Tank had perceived many faces of mockery and disapproval from strangers when they saw her unclean and sometimes torn, bloody clothes. In the beginning, she had been persistent in maintaining a perfect routine of regular baths and fresh clothing, but such quickly disappeared for the sake of time and convenience.

Ducking her head as she slide past Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks, Tank followed Bulma upstairs, muttering something like, "needing only a few minutes."

When the girl was gone, Trunks trudged over to the keyboard and snatched up the photograph. He turned it over and read in clear black ink: _Be Strong._

Bulma showed Tank the shower area and left a comfortable change of clothes. "Gym clothes I haven't even worn yet," Bulma said as she folded the articles of clothes in a drawer next to the shower with baby Trunks' sleeping head on the neap on her neck.

"I trust you know how to use _this_ shower?" Bulma winked with a smile.

Tank ignored the wink and pretended she hadn't heard the wit in Bulma's statement. "I'll figure it out."

Bulma's smile didn't waver as she took another opportunity to survey Tank's features. Awkwardly, Tank pretended to be smoothing out her dark hair by the reflection of a long mirror.

"Take your time, I still have to get this little guy into his sleeper, change my cellphone, and prepare the plane. That should buy you at least twenty minutes."

"Sorry...I mean, thank you...Bulma." Tank mumbled, earning a soft laugh from Bulma.

"Enjoy your shower, kiddo." With that, Bulma shut the door with her. Tank waited until Bulma's footsteps were no longer audible before she let down her hair. Her normally straight hair kinked awkwardly down her shoulders from being wrapped in a hair clip for so long. She ran her hands through her oily roots, catching loose hairs between her fingers.

As she relaxed, Tank felt a familiar crushing pain in her chest then an expected wave of chills reverberated through her body until she finally yawned. She suspected that the plane ride would be lengthy enough for her get some sleep. Rubbing the purple circles under her eyes, she admitted that she dearly needed sleep. Back home, she had been notorious for having a baby-face, and now she hardly looked babyish with awfully reddened eyes and tired skin. Tank shrugged; if she were more like her mother when she was her age, maybe she would have cared more about her features.

Turning on the water, Tank hoped she could resist the urge to sleep until after she finished showering and dressed. However as the steam fogged the tiny shower room, the overwhelming conclusion of showering in Capsule Corp. and the bewildering introductions weighed heavily on her nerves.

Tank shrugged off her clothes and folded them, truly seeing for the first time how worn and dirty they were. She munched up her nose at the unpleasant smell.

She stepped under the spray of warm water and with sleepy sigh, she imagined her worries being washed away. Regardless of the dire situation, Tank gratefully accepted the time she had to relax for the first time in what seemed like forever.

* * *

A pestering, repetitive noise beeped, yanking Tank back into reality. Her chin slammed unpleasantly against her clavicle, forcing her eyes open even as her body ached harshly, declaring that it did NOT want to be awakened. Groaning and drawing in a torso-sized breath, she pressed a side button on her watch, silencing her alarm. The drone of the plane's engines reminded Tank of where she sat.

She crossed her legs, straightening her lazy position, hearing the ruffle of her new deep blue cargo pants. After trying them on, a couple of test-kicks and knee-thrusts made Tank guess that the pants would last for a good while.

Finally peering up, she met Trunks' heeding watch. Even though he sat on the opposing side with Krillin and Gohan, Tank could bet that his sharp gaze was fixed on her. Surely, he hadn't been watching her for the entire flight so far?

Tank yawned sheepishly, dramatically stretching her arms, which announced to Gohan and Krillin that she was awake.

Judging by the apprehensive expression on Trunks' face, Tank figured that he _had _been watching her the whole time.

_You're wasting your energy and time, Trunks_, Tank wanted to say to him._ I would never harm Bulma. _

"You're finally awake?" Gohan stated and asked at the same time. "You were out like a light for about an hour."

Tank rubbed her eyes, which were teary from yawning. Her alarm had been set for an hour and fifteen minutes to be precise. But it felt like she had only been asleep for five minutes. "Are we far now?"

Krillin shook his head meekly. "Not too long ago, Bulma said we were getting close."

Tank glanced out the window for the first time since takeoff; luscious greenery, mountains, and forest stretched out into the distance, worlds away from the sprawling megalopolis of West Capitol.

Bulma announced to prepare for descent.

Tank scanned the deep forest as the ground moved closer and closer, not seeing the machine _anywhere_. "You don't know the exact location—we're gonna have to look for it." She uttered as a statement rather than a question.

"I guess," Gohan answered, unsure if it were a question. "The photo didn't give many clues."

Trunks watched as Tank's expression transformed from tired to agitated. She gritted her teeth, feverishly clicking her fingernails on her metal armrest. Searching meant flying. Flying meant energy. Energy could be detected in such a short distance. If the machine was near, then the cockroach couldn't be too far away... _I'll just have to hide my energy, but that might only reaffirm their suspicions. _

The engines hummed the last of their power and the plane was motionless. The locks of the release compressed and Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks zoomed from their chairs into the air. Tank reluctantly followed. She searched the area on foot when a perplexed look from Krillin halted her.

_Doesn't she know how to fly? _Krillin wondered.

Tank groaned to herself, if she successfully hid her energy, it would ruin their beliefs in her not being an android. With a deep sigh, she excreted a low amount of energy to hover off the ground. Krillin simply turned back once Tank demonstrated her ki. Panning her neck from side to side, Tank searched carefully for any glimmer of the machine. She hoped and prayed that her energy would be camouflaged by their energy.

It wasn't long, thankfully, before Gohan declared his finding the machine. Gohan returned to the plane to carry Bulma over meanwhile Krillin, Tank, and Trunks landed in front of the massive, but impressive machine.

Tank's heart sank, her feet were suddenly as heavy as logs as she stared in a daze at the damage.

The dome had been shattered and charred as if burned. The once yellow casing was covered with a heavy coating of dark green moss. Half of the power sources and engines, Tank figured, either had fallen off or been ripped away, judging by the metallic pieces scattered in the grass like confetti.

Tank stood frozen for a moment while the others easily approached the machine in awe. So much had gone into building that time machine and to perceive it in such a diminished state pained her insides. Eventually she shook her head, _even with intensive repairs, the machine may never travel through the fourth dimension again._

She had originally thought that such a conclusion would be relieving, however the aged damage of the dome only churned her stomach. Had she been too optimistic in believing that there had been more time? Surely, her calculations weren't wrong? Was he getting stronger faster than before?

Gohan hovered down, carrying Bulma, and set her down. She tipped the edge of her hat up to absorb the sight of the machine; acknowledging how the photo hadn't justified the damage.

Trunks pressed the stopper on a capsule and tossed it near the standing machine. His time machine, safe and clean, appeared from the smoke. The comparison between the two machines was like night and day. Trunks' machine was significantly smaller and its casing shined a brilliant yellow.

Hands on hips, Bulma stepped closer to further examine the mysterious machine. "Wow! That machine can't be yours then, Trunks. Tank?"

Tank hadn't realized she hadn't been paying attention when she flinched with a start.

Trunks picked a particular leg of the machine and began scrapping off the moss. "This was written before I left." Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma circled around the leg, all reading the inscription in black marker: _Hope!_

"But wait..." Trunks scrapped off more moss and drew in a sharp take of breath. Just under his mother's inscription was another, in the same exact hand writing from the printed image: _Be Strong._

Tank bit her lip as her knees nearly crumbled. For her own sake, she weeded through Gohan and Bulma to touch the stand and inscription. _It's really here, it's been so long. The last time I touched this...if only._ "I wrote this before the first time I traveled into the past."

Trunks glanced quickly at his own time machine, briefly wondering if his machine had also carried the extra inscription. There was only _Hope! _"But that's not on my time machine." He mumbled quietly.

"That's because this is not your machine, but _ours_. From my timeline." Tank touched her cheek, regardless of the dirt and moss, against the stand and inscriptions.

Everyone had stepped back to see the machines with inscriptions as a whole. Gohan tilted his head. "If this is your time machine, then why did you need us to help you find it?"

Tank reached into her jacket breast pocket and handled a capsule holder. Picking a specific capsule, and held it in her hand for show. "_This _is my time machine. The one I came here with." She pressed the stopper and threw it to an open space. A smaller machine compared to the older one appeared through the smoke with the distinctive words 'DEMO' plastered on the side. Gohan and Krillin quickly circled around the smaller machine but immediately stopped when they noticed the damage. There was a broken stand, a crushed compartment and other things that looked quite important to Krillin and Gohan.

Trunks gazed in awe at the smaller machine. The covering was a slightly duller yellow than the other two machines, yet Trunks thought the machine appeared to be younger than his and the other one. _Speaking of older versus younger, _Trunks pondered as he looked over to Tank again. She claimed to be from the future but from where in the future? If she insisted that the mysterious time machine is also hers than she must have come from a future even further in time than his timeline. _Still, _Trunks concluded, _that doesn't answer how far she has traveled and who the hell she is. _

Krillin crossed his arms in thought at the display of time machines. "Then why is this machine here?"

Tank pressed the hand-sized button on her newer machine and replaced the capsule into the holder. Her expression darkened with profound sorrow and guilt. Krillin and Gohan lowered their heads in respect as bitter memories were refreshed in Tank's mind. With her fingertips, Tank felt the texture of the inscription of older machine, still partially covered with stubborn bits of moss.

Trunks hadn't forgotten his doubts about the girl, but part of him believed her sincerity as she stared longingly at the inscriptions.

The moment presented a justified opportunity to share a bit of her history, yet Tank, trying to compress the crushing pain in her chest and gut, didn't trust that she could compose herself long enough to share the whole story.

With a heavy gulp, Tank realized that those around her could momentarily save the question for another time. However, as her fingers graced along _Be Strong, _she remembered her reasons for writing that on the time machine. Suddenly, her hand clenched into a tight fist. "This machine was stolen."

There was a sharp intake of breath from behind, but Tank hovered to the dome release, wishing for that the hydraulic presses contained some fuel to open the cockpit. The natural flow of questions generally followed from _how? _to _who? _She vaguely heard Krillin mumble his question but ignored it.

"_What _would be the better question than who." Tank muttered grimly, which drew confused gasp from the bald man.

Trunks and Gohan flew to her side as the machine struggled to open the cockpit. Then with one last effort, the glass-like cover levered up. Trunks scrambled into the cockpit, peering through the massive hole in the dome.

Circling around him, Trunks wondered if his machine were smaller. "Two seats? Which means you weren't alone when you went to the past...?"

Tank and Gohan weren't listening as both pairs of eyes were fixed on two bright purple spiky pieces. Trunks followed their stare and gingerly lifted the two pieces.

"What is it? It looks like a coconut shell." Gohan leaned over, blinking at the odd halves. He hadn't seen the expression of surprise face on the girl next to him. "You know what it is, Tank?"

Tank simply shook her head. "I've never seen those before."

"Hey! Let us see!" Bulma held up her hands and Gohan passed the spiky shells to Bulma and Krillin.

They carefully inspected the pieces, Bulma held her piece over her head to fully see the inside while Krillin poked the spikes. Bulma finally took Krillin's piece and pushed them together. "A small center, matching size, protective casing...yep, this is an egg shell. I'm sure of it!"

Krillin gaped at the egg. "What sort of thing would come out of _that?_"

Gohan turned back to the machine, thinking of the size of the egg, but the even larger hole in the dome.  
Tank landed on the ground. "Bulma, can you determine how long ago that egg hatched?"

"Hmm," Bulma opened the egg shell again to search for any clues of age. "Not visually, no, but if I brought it back to the lab, I could do an oxidization test."

Tank sighed softly to herself, but then remembered that the age of the shell might not be a good indication after all. There was only one shell in the machine, which could have meant that there had only been one devolution back to egg-form. Unless the other egg shells had been lost...

"Trunks!" Tank twisted back to Gohan and Trunks who were still examining the cockpit for clues. "Check the most recent date of origin." While the others were absorbed in sorting out her inquiry, no one noticed Tank twisting back, suddenly distracted by something in the distance.

Trunks sat in the navigator's chair and powered the computers. "The battery gauge is almost zero. Wha-?"

Gohan rushed to Trunks' side in the other seat. "What is it, Trunks?"

"18th of May, year 766. But that's not..." Trunks pointed to the oldest date.

Gohan read, but didn't know the significance. "Trunks..." He tapped the older Saiyan's shoulder.

"What does it say, Trunks?!" Krillin shouted from the ground, resisting the urge to fly up to see for himself.

Bulma peeked up, hand over her hat to block the glare of the afternoon sun. "What's going on?!"

"Age 787... That's two years ahead of my time. Tank, can you explain this?" Trunks stood on the edge of the cockpit, just in time to see Tank sprinting towards the cover of the trees far ahead. "She's running!" He exclaimed, causing a rushed turn of heads toward Tank. In anger, his power flared in a blue aura around him, damning himself for nearly trusting her.

"What the—hey!" Bulma yelled as the three men around her bolted from their positions in flying pursuit of Tank. "Wait for me! Agh! Not everybody can fly you know!" The young mother groaned then rushed after them.

Tank randomly stopped, partially covered by the brush. Trunks was first after her; he so nearly tackled her but shouts from Gohan and Krillin halted Trunks.

"Agh, what is it?!"

"DISgusting!"

In front of them, lay a shell that looked like it belonged to a gargantuan-sized cicada.

Tank balled her hands into fists, grounding her teeth, only realizing the presence of the others as they individually walked into her view. Tank heard hasty footsteps approaching from behind then an ear-drum piercing scream.

"KYAAAHHH!" Bulma hid behind Trunks, but peeked over his shoulder. "What is that thing?! Ewww, it reeks!"

Slowly, Gohan and Krillin inched around the bug-like mass.

"Is it...dead?" Krillin squeezed his nose as he proceed closer but slowly to scrutinize the shell.

Gohan tested the weight of the thing by pushing the slimy skin apart to determine the inside. There was nothing inside, no organs, no exoskeleton, just slime. "It's not dead, just a shed skin."

Bulma inhaled with relief and slowly revolved around the skin, but still refused to touch it. "Just skin? I didn't know cicadas could get this big..."

"I don't think this is a cicada, Bulma." Krillin wiped the sweat from his forehead, noting how the beast's shell was twice his size.

Gohan sat to see the imprinted face of the shell. The round shapes that Gohan thought to be eyes were larger than his outstretched hand. A long vertical mouth touched the ground next to Gohan's feet. "There aren't any cicadas like this."

Finally Tank ripped the opening of the skin further apart and dipped an arm inside. She held her arm up to the sun, dripping with purple slime. She rubbed the slime between her fingers and palm; it was a gooey mixture of casing moisture and blood. Her cringing doubled into a grimace.

The slime was very watery and as a general rule of thumb, if the slime had not solidified yet, then the hatching from skin had to be recent. From feeling the dripping consistency of the slime, Tank had to estimate the hatching only being 4 hours, up to 8 hours prior to their finding.

Tank shuddered. If only she had known where the time machine was hiding, she could have destroyed him while in a defenseless egg-state. Then it would have been all over...

"Damn! I just missed him!" Tank cringed, flicking her arm to remove the gluey slime. Her arms pumping at her sides, her energy involuntarily soaring, fueled by uncontrollable frustration. Stray pieces of her hair flowed around her ears as a blue aura surrounded her. Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma unconsciously fell back from the surprise of Tank's power.

Trunks covered his face from the explosion of dust and shielded his mother with the span of his extended arm. Tank's earlier words resounded in his mind, "I'm human." _Just human?! _Trunks nearly shouted aloud, feeling her power jump higher than any human he had ever encountered.

Gohan squinted and dug his feet into the ground to remain standing. All previous doubts of Tank being one of Gero's androids evaporated away as Gohan could sense every ounce of her energy. Threat or not, she was not an android.

Krillin gulped as her power level soared above his maximum level. Just minutes before he had assumed that she wasn't skilled enough to fly, let alone be more powerful than him. As soon as Krillin extended his senses to determine the limit of her strength, her power diminished.

Just as soon as her energy spiked, Tank shut her eyes and inhaled deeply to reach a tranquil center and her aura was gone. After another calming breath, Tank smoothed her hair then ducked her head to avoid the gazes of those around.

"Excuse me...for that." She muttered, hoping to hide her embarrassment. "I was _so _close." The volume of her words faded into a faint whisper, but with her obvious restrain on her frustration and disappointment, her voice shook as she shivered from fear. "He's in his humanoid form now. This changes everything... I really thought—"

"Tank," Bulma pat a comforting hand on Tank's shoulder. "What's going on? Can you explain what that _thing _is?"

Tank gulped then slowly turned back and met dire eyes with Bulma, Gohan, Krillin, and finally, Trunks. Tank had already explained this new threat and dealt with their fearful reactions many times. She quickly glanced at all of them once more. No matter how many timelines she had hopped through, their reactions never differed.

"Let's begin by saying that as of now, Androids 17 and 18 are the lesser of your worries-"

The ground quaked beneath them when a thunderous roar erupted from the outskirts of the closest town. Bulma yelped from the noise and from Tank yanking the mother into her arms for protection. The five of them hovered into the air as the ground cracked deep rifts in the mountainous earth.

"What gives!" Bulma cried. "Seismic activity is rare here!"

Gohan, Trunks, Krillin and Tank fixed their attention to the edge of the town, all immediately covering their eyes as a bright yellow blast engulfed their sight of the town. Another explosion and the crushing of the town's tallest building.

"Androids?!" Trunks shouted absolutely to his comrades through the explosion, peering through the protection of his arms.

Krillin remembered how Androids 17 and 18 openly declared their goal of finding Goku. "Doesn't make sense-there's not way they found Goku yet-"

Another row of buildings crumbled into rubbish as a thick cloud of dust blew in all directions. Gohan gritted his teeth before exclaiming, "It could only be them, right?"

"No, it's something else."

From being hugged tightly, Bulma could feel Tank's quivers, which only caused Bulma to squeeze even tighter to suppress her own bout of trembling. Krillin, Trunks and Gohan circled around and caught Tank's waggling lip, wide eyes, and clenched jaw-an expression crudely contorted with anger and fear.

* * *

Le sigh. The one difficult thing about introductions is that it makes it almost impossible to immediately shift the timeline. I am happy that there is already evidence of her interference in the story late in this chapter. Anyway, please tell me what you thought so far! Con-crit pretty please!


	2. HSoTank 1: Learning to Fly in Peace

The Third & The History of Tank

Chapter 2

Hello again! Thanks to Hatchiyaku 2.0, Sexy And I Know It 123321 and Vegeta73 for the positive feedback :) Vegeta73, not to spoil too much but Tank's later interaction with Vegeta spans from awkward to deadly (not all at once...) I hope you won't be disappointed when the time comes for them to meet. Technically Vegeta will meet Tank for the first time more than once so I have a few chances to get it right, huh? ^^;

Here is the first chapter of the second part of the story, which shows Tank's childhood. This chapter is lighthearted but it's about a five year old in a rare moment of peace. I think it shows a bit about Tank as a person and her interaction with her brother Trunks and her soon-to-be mentor, Gohan. Needless to say that this is one of the sweeter chapters, before things become serious for Bulma's kids.

Hope the layout isn't confusing...but definitely tell me what you think of this chapter. A reminder, Tank's timeline is ravaged by the androids, like future Trunks' time, but is not his timeline...

Also I'm making a thorough chart of the timelines to clear up any possible confusion, but for now...

1) Main time

2) Future Trunks

3) Tank & Cell

* * *

The History of Tank: Chapter 1

April 14th, 773, Timeline #3

"I told you! I don't care if I ever get my feet off the ground!" Tank, a pint-sized 5 1/4 year old, placed both of her hands on her hips and marched away with her nose in the air. Behind her Trunks and Gohan, respectfully two and eleven years her senior, laughed while their mothers stood off from a distance, smiling at their rare moment of peace.

"You know, you should probably stop them, Bulma." Chi-Chi mumbled, wiping a wet plate with a cloth.

Bulma's brows lifted, used to the silence except for the occasional noise of dish washing. "Hmm?" Bulma leaned in.

Chi-Chi peered away from the sink to reminisce. "I remember back then, the worst day of my life was when that boy learned how to fly. I could never get him to stay put and focus on his studies." Chi-Chi said this all with a smile, yet Bulma emphasized with the perpetual sadness of their time.

_Before all this_, Chi-Chi thought to herself, getting him to study was the most important thing. _How have things changed,_ Chi-Chi sighed, not bothering to verbally express her statement.

"You'll get the hang of it, Babyface." Gohan winked, containing his laughter when the little girl turned to him with a round-faced death glare.

"Quit calling me that!" Tanks huffed and pouted. "I'm _not _a baby."

The teenager stretched with a relaxed sigh as he stood. "You ready to try again, lil' bro?"

"Yep! Sure!" Trunks enthusiastically jumped to his feet and balled his hands into fists with his elbows at his sides. His smiled disappeared and his cheeriness muted. Gohan watched attentively while Tank bit her bottom lip curiously and with jealousy. _He will fly, if only to make Gohan proud._

The grass waved as if by wind and Trunks' hair flared around his face, then faster as the intensity of his energy grew.

"Remember, push the energy up!" Gohan ordered over the rush of energy, his smile growing.

Trunks shut his eyes then exhaled; his feet slowly lifted from the ground. He opened his eyes and rose higher and higher then leaned ahead to proceed forward. Trunks scrambled about awkwardly as if to find something to hold on to, however he laughed gleefully as he inched over the grass in the air.

"That's fantastic Trunks!" Gohan crossed his arms, proudly.

Bulma cringed as she saw her son go airborne. "Don't go too high, Trunks! Don't hurt yourself!"

Trunks slowly twisted back to the house. "Don't worry mom! I've got the hang out it!" He exclaimed too confidently before he lost concentration then fell several feet onto his butt. Bulma and Chi-Chi left the dishes and ran from the house, while Gohan, closer to Trunks reached him first.

Gohan cautiously lifted him so that Trunks sat up. Trunks immediately flicked away his hot tears. Tank nudged forward to start running, but paused when she saw Trunks' grin. Bulma rushed to her knees and hugged her son.

"Trunks! You alright?!"

Trunks laughed for a moment, still too excited to use words, his arms pumping at his side. "Did you see me mom?! I flew! I flew! I flew!"

Bulma sighed with relief tightened her embrace around Trunks. "Thank Kami you didn't crack your skull open, you moron."

Trunks blushed due to his mother's affection. "Mom—you don't—please let me g—hey Tank!"

Tank placed her weight back on her heels and relaxed. Her brother was alright, of course. She had seen him survive higher falls onto rockier ground without so much as a scratch. "What, Trunks?"

"You should try it again! Falling hurts, but it's worth it! What do you say?"

With her last outburst, Tank thought she had made it crystal clear that she was not going to attempt to fly again. Facing four eager faces, how could she refuse without letting them down? Especially that of her brother. If he learned to fly and not her, she'd definitely be a baby. Unable to refuse, she reconsidered. She couldn't let Trunks down. _I'm not a baby._

Seeing her brother's unwavering smile, her frown curved up. Tank lifted up her fists, just as Trunks did. "I'll do it. I'll try again. Mmhmm." She solidly declared with a nod to Trunks and Gohan. _See? I'm not a baby._

Tank breathed out deeply, relaxing her muscles even while her heart beat accelerated with anticipation. She focused to the center of her body and released invisible spurts of her energy, Gohan and Trunks could sense it before the grass flowed around Tank. Gohan's prior words echoed in her head: _push up the energy, let it hold you!_ Tank did her best to fix the energy below her in order to push her body in the air. She grunted softly as she felt her feet grow limp, floating from the ground. She could hear praise from her family and friends, yet too focused, she didn't lift her head to laugh with them.

Her muscles tensed and Tank could feel the ground coming closer and closer. Cooperating with her body _while _trying to focus on flight suddenly seemed impossible.

Gohan's expression hardened. "Tank, you have to relax. Trust your energy and trust your body to know what to do."

Tank heard Gohan's guiding words, but the idea of relaxing and not concentrating didn't seem straightforward. _How am I supposed to relax and concentrate? _Desperate to stay in the air, Tank pushed her energy down harder, but it refused to hold her. She knew she was going to fall, but she didn't have time to save herself or the energy to set herself down gracefully. At last, Tank gasped with exhaustion, her energy dispersed and she fell to her knees and palms.

Frustrated and disappointed, hot tears streamed down Tank's cheeks. Why did it come so easily to Trunks but not her? Her long hair that curtained around her face brushed along her tears, moistening strands of her tresses. When she heard the hurried footsteps of Gohan and Trunks, Tank quickly wiped her tears with her sleeve. It was no use as when she lifted her head, Trunks saw her puffy eyes.

_She's frustrated, _Trunks thought as he saw her tear stained cheeks. Trunks had seen it enough times to know that raging emotions always brought her to tears, whether she admitted it or not. He didn't need to ask if she was alright. The anger that glittered in her eyes said she was fuming. Frustrated and hard on herself but internally even more determined to succeed at flying. Originally, Trunks' expression matched Gohan's in concern, however, Trunks replaced his worry with assurance. Tank was his sister after all, she could take a short little fall like that and get right back up.

"Don't worry, Tank, you'll get it soon enough. We can practice together." Trunks offered sincerely, drawing back his hand, knowing that Tank could stand up for herself.

Gohan thought carefully to offer the best encouraging advice then responded to Trunks. "I think what Tank needs right now is to learn how to control her energy."

Tank slowly regained her stance with a sour grunt.

Trunks nervously turned to Gohan. "Are you sure that's what you mean, Gohan?"

"Well, little bro, you need to learn to crawl before you can walk right?"

Trunks cringed. Gohan made a comparison to babies and Tank. "No, she definitely knows how to control—

"I'm right HERE and I can HEAR YOU!" Tank cried bitterly, her fists shaking at her sides. "I can crawl, walk and _run_ if you DIDN'T KNOW ALREADY."

Gohan held up his hands in surrender and slowly stepped back. "We know Tank, we just think that you might need some practice controlling your energy before trying to fly again."

Trunks cocked an eyebrow. "We?"

"WE?" Tank exclaimed causing them both to quiver. "Then I'll show you two!" She loosened her fingers, gathered small bits of energy in her palm, and then threw balls of ki at both of them. Both Trunks and Gohan leaped backwards, either dodging her blasts or deflecting them. She ran after them until both Gohan and Trunks flew into the air.

"That's progress since the last time I saw you all. When did she learn how to use ki so violently?" Gohan asked Trunks, waving around Tank's continuous blasts.

"Since I played keep-away with one of her toys. I was stunned, but she managed to destroy the toy I was holding. Needless to say, she got even more upset." Trunks slashed through one of her blasts with his arm.

Tank ran towards their floating shadows and jumped into the air. Trying to focus her energy to push her up, Tank allowed herself to fall back to her feet and try again.

"Can she do it?" Gohan wondered aloud.

She grunted and gave herself a jump start into the air. She floated for a second then tumbled back to the ground. She caught eyes with Trunks, her determination blazing even from the distance.

Tank stepped back, then charged. She jumped then flashed her palms against the rocks, sending a ki blast to push her up into the air. But before she could reach Trunks or Gohan, Tank was stopped by a strong tug at her ankle.

"What the—mom!" Tank turned back and came face to face with an unamused Bulma.

"Enough for today, come help me set the table. You could also use a bath" Bulma uttered dryly, dragging her daughter back into the house.

"But M_O_M! I almost had it!" Tank whined, still floating in the air, even though Bulma held her down like a balloon on a string.

"Well, then you'll almost have it tomorrow, won't you?!" Bulma retorted.

Tank finally sighed, watching as Gohan and Trunks slowly landed back on the ground in the distance, making cheeky peace signs at her. She stuck her tongue out at them, which made them laugh some more. "That was a strong pull mother. Where did ya learn that?"

Bulma smirked secretly. And people always thought that her children entirely got their strength, whether it be physical or mental, from their father.

"See you, Babyface!" Gohan shouted daringly then finally bursting into laughter.

Trunks covered his mouth with his palm, hoping that Tank wouldn't see him laugh so she wouldn't hold a grudge.

"Quit it! I'm not a baby!" She shook her fist and pouted.

When Bulma dragged Tank through the frame of the door, she set her daughter done on her feet. "Remember what we talked about young lady?"

Tank inhaled a deep, calming breath. "Yes, mother." She shut her eyes and counted. _No need to be angry or too sensitive. It was just a joke. Calm down. _She exhaled and dropped her shoulders. Her mind cleared and the emotion was gone.

Bulma's expression softened when the innocent glint return in Tank's eyes. "There you go, kiddo." She playfully ruffled the girl's wild hair, which drew a smile from Tank. _There you go kid, I don't ever want you to stop smiling._

* * *

Tank pressed the soft towel against her soaked hair. She had already changed into her clean clothes when her mother walked in carrying the trusty hair brush that could survive brushing wild saiyan hair. Sitting behind Tank, facing the mirror, Bulma hummed to herself as she brushed her daughter's hair. "See?" She chimed, very pleased. "Doesn't that feel better?"

Tank groaned as Bulma accidentally pulled her hair with the brush, but forced a strained smile.

Bulma ran her fingers through her daughter's soft hair. _Hmm_, thought Bulma seeing her hands draped with Tank's thick tresses. _Black hair, must have gotten it from her father's side_. Bulma stopped briefly to stare at Tank's reflection in the mirror as she glanced into her lap, picking at her fingernails. Tank's soft violet irises reflected clearly in the glass. _Where did those come from?_ Bulma thought of her ancestors, not immediately seeing a violet-eyed relative in her memory.

Others had said that Tank facially took from Bulma, while Trunks stole more from his father. Yet Bulma considered that appearances aside, Tank due to her hotheadedness and sensitive pride might have turned out to be more like Vegeta than Trunks.

_Vegeta..._

Bulma was still surprised with herself that even several years later her heart always skipped a beat whenever she remembered the past. Even if her son and daughter grew up to be just like their father in every manner, they would never know it. How cruel was that—

"Mom?"

Bulma dropped the brush, which creaked loudly against the wooden floor in the overly silent room. Bulma saw her daughter's serious expression as if Tank knew that her mother was thinking about her. That piercing face without fail always made Bulma as it reminded her of Vegeta. Even on her child's face, Vegeta's trademark radiated through. It was remarkable in that Bulma could only imagine that mesmerizing expression was in the blood because Tank couldn't possibly remember her father. _It's only a matter of time before Trunks uses the same face on me. _

Bulma saw her own pale face in the mirror then softly sighed. It could have been aging, but the last seven years worth of wrinkles had made Bulma look twice her age. "Yes, Tank?"

Tank's eyes never left her mother's reflection. She didn't need to be a mind-reader to judge by her mother's somber face that she was thinking about the past. "Auntie Chi-Chi was calling for us. I think supper is ready."

Bulma set a loose strand of hair to her ear and smiled at her daughter. "Best not keep them waiting then." She leaned forward to Tank's level and winked. Finally the child's serious face faded. Bulma ruffled the young girl's hair, drawing the usual annoyed whine from Tank that always made Bulma chuckle.

"Nah, Mom! You just brushed it!" Tank combed her now tangled hair with her fingers. Bulma watched as Tank intricately separated the knots in her hair, still mumbling 'ow' when her face munched up.

That teary, playful face reminded Bulma of Trunks, which brought a grateful sigh from her chest. She didn't want her children to grow up too fast and even if they lived on a wrecked Earth. She wanted her children to have adventures, like going to Namek, like she did when she was younger. She wanted them to really live without any hesitation...but not in a world like this. That guilty thought burned in her gut. If only she and the others had been strong enough to find a way to destroy the androids when they first appeared then the children wouldn't have to inherit such a terrible life and planet.

"Mom?" Tank had tossed her hair towel aside, still smoothing frayed pieces of her hair by her ears. "Are we going? I'm starving."

The edges of Bulma's eyes softened once more and patted her daughter's head. Tank twitched at first expecting her mom to mess up her hair again. Bulma giggled at Tank. "Let's go, kid. But first, pick up your clothes. We don't want to mess up Auntie Chi-Chi's home."

* * *

Trunks and Gohan were already seated when Bulma and Tank walked out into the dining room. Chi-Chi was humming to herself in the kitchen while the radio projected tunes from the edge of the counter. Remembering her earlier falter of flight, Tank fought back her frustration when Gohan and Trunks noticed her walk in.

"Gohan is going to take me around later, _you wanna try again Tank?_" Trunks said cheekily.

"Humph, like I said, _I don't care if I ever get my feet off the ground!_" She snapped, causing Gohan's smile to grow.

Gohan hadn't known before that day that Tank could fire dozens of blasts of ki with at particular targets with remarkable precision. He had already said to Trunks that he had zero doubt that she would properly learn to fly.

_"I've watched you and Tank grow up, and I think she just needs the right motivation. Don't worry; she'll be flying around like a bird in no time." Gohan said certainly as he watched Bulma yank Tank back into the house._

_"Attacking us wasn't the right motivation?" Trunks added, making Gohan laugh._

_"I guess not little bro."_

The radio switched to a soft piano track and Tank sat down across from Trunks, her scowl still going strong.

As much as his sister's anger amused him, Trunks decided it was time for her to smile again. He grabbed three apples from a bowl on the table. "Hmm, Tank?" He said trying to get her attention.

Her scowl wouldn't budge.

Anyway, he threw the apples into the air, and juggled them. After a few rotations, with his right hand, he sliced one of the apples into halves by force, while continuing to juggle the other two.

Tank's lips quivered, trying to grin, but she stubbornly continued to frown.

"Heeeyaa!" Trunks sliced another apple, letting it fall onto the table. The remaining apple was at its peak in the air, about to begin falling back down to earth. Trunks readied his hand, waiting, and waiting...

"Trunks! What are you doing?" Bulma projected, distracting Trunks enough to completely straighten in his chair, as he always did whenever his mother called, and forgot the falling apple, which smacked him loudly on the head.

Trunks groaned, rubbing the sore spot on his head. Tank meanwhile covered her mouth with her small hands, failing to hide her snorting laughter.

Trunks peeked open his eyes, satisfied to hear Tank's muffled laughter. At least, it had been an apple hitting him in the head this time; he had suffered worse trying to make his sister laugh.

Bulma tapped the rice cooker and giggled from hearing Tank's laughter. "See that's better, huh, Tank?"

Tank hands fell to her side, exposing a smile that stretched from ear to ear. _That's my girl_, Bulma smiled.

Trunks relaxed again, placing his arms behind his head. "Oh, I nearly forgot, weren't you supposed to be going to a birthday this weekend, Tank?"

Bulma retrieved rice bowls and gave them to Chi-Chi to serve the rice.

"When I hand you the bowls, Tank, please pass them to your brother and Gohan." Chi-Chi cupped a generous portion of rice in each bowl and gave them to Tank.

"Yes, Auntie Chi-Chi." Too concerned with spilling the rice, Tank gripped each bowl tightly with two hands and spread each serving around the table. "Not this weekend. It won't be a for a _long _time. Can't wait to show everyone what I've learned. Oh, and the cake! Can't wait for the cake."

"Now, Tank, remember what we said? You shouldn't be telling everyone about our saiyan abilities."

Tank tilted her head thoughtfully. "How come?"

Gohan strained his laugh then scratched his chin, his words trailing off. "That's actually a good question..."

Chi-Chi balanced a long tray with steamed vegetables and shredded meat to the table, letting out a satisfied _whoosh_ when the metal hit the table due to weight.

Immediately, Gohan slapped his hands together and uttered, "It's chow time!" He took his rice bowl and heartily began shoving chunks of rice into his mouth. Tank and Trunks watched in awe momentarily, but then Trunks followed suit. Tank simply held her bowl in her palm, frozen in amazement at Gohan's _aim _of tossing pieces of meat and vegetables from the tray to his mouth.

Tank hadn't even picked her own chopsticks before the boys asked for more.

"More, please?!"

Bulma had seen her saiyan boys devour plateful after plateful of food for decades now, yet it still never ceased to make her laugh.

The soft piano track on the radio creased into static then overwhelmed by a distant emergency broadcast. _"The Androids—are attacking Limehouse Province—once a small ocean side suburb with a dockland port—is being terrorized—people are jumping from their boats to risk the water—_

The radio was abruptly shut off. Everyone immediately inhaled a short bit of air, not realizing they all had been holding their breath. Chi-Chi lowered the antenna and set the radio away. "Not today." She said simply then regained her seat the end of the table, picked up her bowl of rice and chopsticks and began eating as if nothing was wrong.

* * *

Tank sat with her legs stretched in front of her as Trunks and Gohan were hovering off in the distance. Gohan was teaching Trunks some extra flight techniques. _Humph_. Tank thought to herself. _One day, I swear I'll fly faster than those two jerks._

Enjoying the soft grass beneath her fingers, she laid her back to the ground to gaze at the magnificent early evening sky. The sun was setting to the West, towards home, and the clouds above her glimmered in golds, oranges, purples, pinks, and blues. The clouds looked soft and puffy. Slowly Tank reached out her small hand as if to touch the sky. She closed her hand, groaning to herself, wondering if she should try to fly again.

Suddenly, Tank was lifted forcibly to her feet, whooping in slight dizziness. "What the—what are you doing, Trunks?!" Before she could comprehend what happened, Trunks locked his arms around Tank and lifted them both high into the air. Frightened in spite of her pride, Tank tightly hugged Trunks' chest, too afraid to peer over his arm to see how far they had traveled from the ground. Instead, once Trunks paused in flight, she peeked up.

"Wow..." Tank gaped at the orange and pink clouds just above her, so close to her touch.

Trunks too couldn't to tear his eyes away. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Tank inched her neck further back; the golden rays of the sun cast brightly across her face. Beside the glare of the setting sun, the luscious green mountains stretched into the distance and ocean. If she looked carefully, Tank could see tiny structures from the Eastern corner of North Capitol.

Without thinking, Tank glanced towards the ground, taking in how far up they actually were... The Son home, already small to begin with, was a mere speck from their height. A cold rush of ocean air hit her and she shivered against Trunks' chest. He munched up his face against the wind, trying to remain calm even with his sister shaking in his arms. "I'm not gonna let you fall."

Tank's feet dangled unpleasantly with her trying not to focus on the fact that nothing other than Trunks' grip was holding her up and if she slipped nothing was there to catch her.

Trunks gathered his thoughts to bring them back down to Earth long before Tank mumbled to him. "Put me down _now_, Trunks."

Tank's discomfort was so apparent with how tight she squeezed his middle that Trunks also got uncomfortable, unfocused. Within a second, his energy abruptly dispersed, sending them both dropping towards the ground. Tank still clung to Trunks, suppressing a scream, but when Trunks released another wave of energy to hold them both, the unfocused energy backfired and sent the two children falling in separate paths towards the rocky ground.

Spinning towards the ground, Tank screamed to her full lungs' capacity. She needed to save herself. Crying, she released random and unequal rushes of energy, but none were steady enough to hold her. Adrenaline pumped in her chest, blood gushed to her skull. Her thoughts evaporated and her body was as light as a feather.

Tank heard Trunks' begging yell in such fear she wasn't sure when she had last heard it from him or if she had ever heard him yell like that. Tank shut her eyes, waiting to hit the ground—

With a yelp, she hit harshly against Gohan's muscular arm. Tank opened her eyes and saw a disgruntled, but alive, Trunks wrapped in Gohan's other arm. The young boy was blushing a deep shade of crimson either from embarrassment or the rush of blood to his cheeks. Above them, Gohan panted yet with hints of perspiration as if he had been holding his breath.

"You two...alright?" Gohan offered with concern, but softly as to not further upset the two kids.

"Alright," the duo said wearily in unison.

"I thought you said you wouldn't let me fall!" Tank scolded Trunks, giving him an expression of when-Gohan-puts-me-down-I'm-going-to-kick-your-ass.

Trunks didn't answer his sister, scratching the back of his head, still too shocked to verbally reply.

Tank bit her bottom lip, crossing her arms tightly to resist the urge to punch her brother in the nose. "We both nearly _died, _Trunks! Mom would have been mad at both of us, or worse, we would have survived _then _mom would have killed us both...and it would have been all your fault!"

Trunks continued to scratch his head with a muted face. "Yeah, I guess she would have been mad..."

Tank pressed her cheek against Gohan's bicep to not look at her idiot brother. Gohan set them carefully on their pairs of feet and allowed himself to sigh in relief. "Take it easy for the rest of today, guys. And remember what your mom said: don't try to fly too high when you're still learning." Gohan said, knowing full well that his statement was entirely different from Bulma's. _Don't fly too high!_ She reminded Gohan of his own mother when she first saw him take flight. But then his mother nearly fainted...

"I don't get it." Trunks uttered finally, with a sincerely confused expression on his face. Tank crossed her arms, still glaring at Trunks. "Was falling still not the right motivation?"

Gohan unconsciously back away when Tank clenched her fists. "How's _this _for motivation?" Tank gathered a ball of energy in her palm and fired straight at Trunks who crossed his arms and blocked.

"You know that I'm sorry Tank." Trunks apologized, peeking over the smoke airing from his arms. "I didn't mean—

"Save it." Tank yelled, waving her arm to dismiss his comment as she marched back to the house.

* * *

Bulma saw Tank's angry face when Tank stomped into the cottage and went straight for the bathroom. She looked towards Chi-Chi who shrugged her shoulders, but then gave an all-knowing roll of the eyes. _You know it was probably Trunks' doing that upset her, but go ahead and check on her, _Chi-Chi motioned with a silent nudge of her head, sipping her tea.

When Bulma checked on her, the little girl didn't open the door. When Trunks walked in, his head was lowered in order to avoid his mother's suspicious gaze.

"What happened, Trunks Briefs?" Bulma demanded in a deeper tone than usual with her hand on the bathroom door knob.

Trunks' shoulders raised, but his back was facing his mother so she couldn't see the sweating guilt on his forehead.

Before he slowly turned, he quickly wiped his forehead. "Just fine, mom, wait...I mean..." He stumbled over his words and Bulma's brows narrowed.

Before Bulma could question her son again, the bathroom door opened. Slowly Tank slipped out and met eyes with Trunks for a full second then looked up to her mother. "Nothing mom, I scrapped my knee while Trunks and I were playing." Tank cupped her palm over her knee, which was covered by her long pants.

Bulma, with thin lips, examined her daughter's and her son's expressions. Trunks could barely keep still. Meanwhile Tank stared back at her mother, unflinchingly. Bulma was not fully convinced, but she let it go. "Well, alright then. You both know I want you two to be careful."

Trunks' nervousness lifted and he stared up at his mom, the weight of his guilt nearly subsided. Tank inhaled deeply and her lips slightly traced into smile. "Sure, mom. We know." The duo said in unison and slowly filed outside.

* * *

Once out on the dirt pathway in front of the Son house porch, Trunks peeked over to his sister, seeing if whether or not her anger towards him had lifted yet. Her scowl had returned once they were away from their mother's careful eye. She crossed her arms protectively and turned her chin away from Trunks.

Trunks sighed deeply. His sister had saved him from his mother's wrath even though with how Tank was ignoring him, he figured she thought he had deserved it too. "Look—thanks for—

"Hey, you two," Gohan landed, balancing several tree trunks on his shoulder and the width of his arm. In swift motion, he chopped them in mid air and tossed them into a neat pile. He slapped the bark from his palms and inhaled a relaxed breath of air, satisfied with the amount of wood he had gathered.

Gohan finally glanced over to the other demi-saiyans. He noticed Tank's clear discomfort and marched forward. Trunks lifted his neck to smile at his friend while Tank's arms remained crossed, but her scowl had softened at the taller boy.

"Ready to fly again, Trunks?" Gohan smiled at the little boy.

Trunks grinned and Tank could sense his energy soar from excitement.

Gohan nodded at him and turned to Tank. "And you, Tank? Willing to try again?"

Tank lips thinned at the thought of falling again.

Gohan tilted his head and set his palm on her shoulder. "Don't be put off from flying because of an accident Tank."

Tank didn't utter a response, not for the sake of ignoring Gohan, but for her inability to gather an adequate answer.

Gohan's smile didn't waver. "I think I know something that might change your mind."

Tank peered up curiously.

Gohan turned and yelled at the sky. "KINTO-UN!"

Trunks and Tank checked every corner of the sky, wondering what Gohan had called. Suddenly, a yellow dot appeared behind a wall of clouds and darted across the horizon. Then the dot arced its direction straight for Mt. Paozu, leaving a yellow tail to disperse in the sky. As the dot zoomed at lightning speed, the two kids soon made out the puffy cloud-shape of Kinto-Un.

Trunks' mouth fell agape as the cloud stopped perfectly in front of Gohan and hovered above the ground. Tank leaned to the side in order to fully view the cloud. The puffs of the cloud rotated and pulsed as if it were breathing.

"Whoa, what is that thing?" Trunks mumbled, perplexed.

Tank blinked. _I don't know._

"Hey, long time no see, huh, old friend?" Gohan greeted the cloud. The cloud pulsed as if to nod in agreement.

Gohan felt a nudge by his leg and saw Tank inching closer to the cloud. Her baby face was puckered in interest as she extended a finger to poke the cloud. Her fingertip touched the vapory substance of the cloud ever so slightly. Her fingertip felt wet and cold and with a squeal, she shyly hid behind Gohan.

Trunks circled around Gohan and the cloud, cocking an eyebrow. "So...what is it?"

Gohan patted the boy's head and waved his hand to the cloud. "Kinto-Un, I'm giving you to these two."

This statement drew a gasp from both Tank and Trunks.

"Yeah," Gohan said as he scratched the back of his head. "It's not fair for Kinto-Un for me to keep it now since I hardly travel or use it anymore. Kinto-Un, Tank and Trunks are both young and will be able to enjoy you a lot more."

Tank turned back to the cloud. "But...what do you do with it?"

Gohan picked Tank up to set her on the cloud. Tank cringed, expecting to fall, yet the cloud perfectly supported her. She patted the cloud's pillow-like texture. Logic told her that she should have fallen when Gohan released her, yet somehow a freakin' _cloud _was solid enough to hold her weight.

She looked to her brother and saw his equally confused face. Then she remembered that she was ignoring him and fixed her attention on the cloud. "Kinto-Un, huh? What do you do with it?"

Gohan lowered his chin with focus. "Go ahead, Kinto-Un, show Tank what you can do."

Before Tank could brace herself, the cloud pivoted into the air. With a shocked yelp, Tank frantically hung onto puffs of the cloud, yet only ended up pulling handfuls of cloud. Kinto-Un spiraled down, causing dizziness to overtake Tank. Black spots scattered in her vision, her wild hair whipped around her neck and her heart was jumping in her chest. Everything was moving too quickly for Tank to take in. "STOP!" She shouted.

With accordance to her command, Kinto-Un paused perfectly in mid air while supporting Tank. The cloud had endured all of the inertia while Tank remained steady in its center. The little girl caught her breath and gazed at the landscape.

The sun was still peeking over the horizon, yet nearly half the sky had darkened to a deep blue. Glimmers of stars were twinkling in the Eastern sky. Tank fixed her hair and looked down at the cloud underneath her. "Kinto-Un..." She began cautiously. "Let's fly again, but go a little slower this time."

The cloud floated forward without hesitance. Tank ducked, waiting for the cloud to soar again, yet as her confidence grew, she slowly straightened. "Wooooow." She softly laughed as the cloud spiraled.

Trunks watched in wonder as the cloud zipped across the sky, carrying his sister. Even from the ground, he could see her smile.

Satisfied that Tank was enjoying Kinto-Un, Gohan turned back to Trunks. "Ready to catch up with Babyface, Trunks?"

"You bet."

* * *

Tank dozed in and out of sleep as the their plane flew in the dark towards West Capitol. Staring out the window, she could make out traces of thick forest, mountains, lakes, then a patch of sand, then navy blue ocean.

Her reflection in the glass window was joined by Trunks quietly moving to the seat next to her. "Listen...Tank, you know I didn't mean—

The boy sighed when his sister didn't move from the window.

_At least she doesn't seem angry, _Trunks reassured himself. "You're not...still mad at me, are you?"

Tank adjusted her seat with a quiet sigh, still watching the scenery and her reflection.

_No answer, _Trunks noted. Tank wasn't yelling at him, which meant that he could bargain with her. "Hey, tell you what, when mom makes us pancakes again—

"You'll give me your first pancake?!" Tank squealed brightly, acknowledging his reflection.

Minor success so far, at least she was speaking to him. But there was no way he was going to give up his whole pancake. "No deal. I'll give you the first bite."

"No deal! _You _almost killed us both!" Tank twisted around, her hair whipping behind her. "Give me your serving of the chocolate pancake spread."

"Nuh uh, no deal! There's no way." Trunks refused, unrelenting, his chin level with hers.

"Then give me your half of the lemon and sugar." Tank demanded.

With that, Trunks happily conceded. "Deal." _Good, I don't even like lemon, _Trunks thought.  
_  
_Tank settled into her seat, satisfied. Trunks also pressed his back comfortably into his chair, also satisfied.

When they arrived at their home in West Capitol, Bulma lowered the shuttle doors, seeing Trunks and Tank sprint off to go run in the yard. Bulma, right before she pressed the plane's capsulize-switch, saw Tank's bare knees as the young girl rolled up the hem of her pant legs to catch up with her brother.

Even in the darkness, Bulma could see that her daughter's knees were clean. Not a single cut or bruise.

The plane disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving only a tiny capsule. Bulma smiled then replaced the capsule into her pocket container.

* * *

Weeeeeeeeee, Gohan is teaching youngsters how to fly again :) Anyway, back to The Third with the next chapter! Tell me what you think!


	3. The Third 2: Android 22

The Third & The History of Tank

Chapter 3

* * *

Quick thanks to Juliedoo and Sexy and I know it for the amazing feedback! :) Okay, this chapter has me trying my hand at fighting/action scenes. This is back to the main timeline…

* * *

The Third: Chapter 2

May 12th, 767 Timeline #1

"What do you _mean _something else?" Trunks demanded, prying Bulma from Tank's arms.

Too absorbed in her thoughts, Tank didn't notice Trunks' distrust of her protection over his mother. The ground quaked again as a ring of buildings caved in from a mushroom cloud, leaving a massive crater.

"It's all the way on the other side of the town by the mountains, half the town will be annihilated before we can stop them." Krillin shouted over the noise.

"We can't just stand here!" Gohan grunted.

Tank tenderly patted Bulma's shoulder then blankly spoke to Trunks. "Take Bulma back to her plane or better yet, fly her home."

Trunks' hands curled into tight fists. "Wait a minute! You know what's attacking that city?! You still haven't explained how you know the androids!"

Tank turned calmly away and shut her eyes to mentally hone in on the city's edge. "I already told you, it's not Androids 17 and 18 you should be worried about at the moment." She found a focal point and shrugged her shoulders to relax her muscles. "Take Bulma home, I'll handle this myself."

Krillin recognized how she placed two fingers to her forehead in concentration and in the time it took him to react by leaping forward, she disappeared. "No! Wai—agh!" His heels dug into the grass where Tank previously stood.

"Huh? Where did she go?" Bulma shaded her eyes from the sun as she peered into the sky, believing Tank had flown.

The three warriors immediately shifted their sights to the southern edge of city, far away from them, as if to acknowledge that Tank had gone there.

Gohan's brows furrowed. "Was that…my dad's technique?"

"I think so, Gohan." Krillin muttered.

"Mother, fly home now." Trunks ordered.

* * *

The instigator of the chaos lifted his arm and from each of his fingers a beam of yellow energy fired in all directions. He noticed one of his blasts divert upon impact and spun around.

He saw a young woman with an arm outstretched, proving she had been the one to flick the energy. Her scowl was a familiar one. He tucked a stray strand of red hair to his ear and then crossed his arms. "Still alive I see…what? No blonde hair today?"

Tank growled, facing the redheaded android. Her eyes averted to the conscious red RR on his dark green and black uniform and felt anger ignite like fire. Automatically, she peered over her shoulders and below. In her haste to stop him, she missed her opportunity to check her computer for the location of the other two androids. Besides the smoke, rubble and panicked populace, her instincts swore that they were alone.

"I was wondering how long it would be until you miscreant joined this timeline." He crossed his arms and sneered. "I was getting bored."

"How long have you been here, 22?" Tank snarled.

The android held a finger to his lips and sniggered. "That I will keep a secret. But if you're asking if I have shifted the flow of this timeline, the answer is no. That is, until now." He gazed down over the wreckage of the city.

"Why do you keep following me? Isn't it bad enough that Trunks and I destroyed 17 and 18 in our timeline?"

Android 22's lip twitched at the mention of his dead siblings. "It is you who can be accused of following me. Dr. Gero created me to protect my siblings from interfering quims like as you, _until they can reach their full potential_." His voice unnaturally deepened in timbre for a moment, sounding unlike his usual tone.

The latter half of the statement sent shivers down Tank's did he mean by full potential? He uttered it like a robot as part of his programming; did he even know what it meant? She pictured the giant cicada-shaped skin and shouted, "Stop interfering!"

"Or else? You'll kill me?" Android 22 snickered. "If we're negotiating, I'll propose this: you return to your timeline and I _might _let you live if I ever think of returning."

"So you can destroy this time too?! I won't have it!" Tank viciously shook her head.

"Don't forget it is not only your life you're bargaining for. If I recall there _is _someone you care about that you left behind in our time." He bared his teeth with delight.

Tank's chest felt cold as she thought of her mother's face. "You're bluffing! Time travel will take too much of your energy and too much time. By the time you arrive in the future, I would have destroyed the androids here." She exhaled to soothe her anger and clear her mind. Then she smirked. "You should take my threat seriously—I've already made right on it three times."

She saw his bared teeth grit bitterly. That delighted her malice and it implored her to throw salt on the wound.

"Your efforts are wasted today. The androids aren't anywhere nearby." Tank hollered back. "I would suggest that instead of blowing up towns and murdering innocent people that you locate Androids 17 and 18. But you _can't _find them, can you?" _For the same reason the remote didn't work. The androids differ with each timeline._

Android 22's lips twitched again but he dismissed her remarks and uncrossed his arms. "17 and 18 appear a little shy in this time. They never waited this long to begin their fun. I _have _taken for granted their typical trail of devastation. It never thought that they could be so difficult to find." His icy blue eyes narrowed on Tank and his hands curled into fists.

Tank locked her elbows by her side, preparing to attack and dodge.

Her instincts flared suddenly. Something wasn't right. "So why this? Why now?"

The android smirked and loosely set his hands to his sides. "I had to get somebody's attention. If I can't readily locate my fellow androids, I'll do the next best thing. Wiping out cities always drew you, Gohan and Trunks out of hiding."

Tank's knuckles popped from squeezing her fingers into her palms. She gritted her teeth painfully, causing her jaw to hurt sharply.

Android 22 subtly leaned forward, his arms locking at his side. His hair that blew softly in the wind didn't flutter back to his cheek before he sprung forward like a bullet.

Tank dropped her defenses unconsciously upon realization that Android 22 had been powering up the entire time. As quick as she believed herself to be, Tank wasn't prepared for the impact of his elbow to her right shoulder. Shocked by the pain, she was open to another hit on her back which propelled her downward headfirst.

Gathering her senses, she stopped her descent, causing a backfire of smoke and dust from the ground. Despite not being properly warmed up or powered up, every muscle and bone braced for impact and exertion. Her adrenaline kicked in, awakening her instincts enough to ready her fists and charge after Android 22.

Zipping across the sky in a speed faster than the cyborg, Tank pummeled his face and torso before he managed to block.

After one particularly painful hit to the nose, Android 22 flipped back in the air to gather distance. 22's human instincts warned him to tend to his bleeding nose. One sweeping motion of the back of his hand showed no blood. His programming intervened, silencing the humanist feeling.

Android 22 circled his hands and fired a medium powered beam towards the demi-saiyan.

Tank flicked the beam to the sky, consciously away from the city below. From the moment of distraction, Tank could only partially dodge the kick to her side. Instead, she used the momentum to circle in the direction of the kick to hit Android 22 again.

Groaning from the shock, Android 22 undercut her jaw then flipped fifty feet away. The gears within him turned gathering and focusing a significant amount of energy. The android used two precious seconds to tame a sphere of energy twice his size. He howled as he fired down towards the town, away from Tank's direction.

Tank flew after the ball of energy and tucked herself against it. She pressed against it with her hands, slowing the energy down but not enough to gradually be pushed down towards the town.

She calculated. At her current power level, she'd be obliterated with the town below. The energy was too large to flick away with the city so close. She could push back and send it after Android 22 but that would require more power…

Tank delved deep into her inner stores of power and a switch flicked on. Tremendous energy flowed and transformed every inch of her body. She howled and with new ease tossed the large energy mass towards Android 22 like a wad of paper.

With difficulty, Android 22 sidestepped the energy, singeing off a few stray strands of hair.

With annoyance he peered back and saw the figure encompassed by a gold aura. "Oh lookie, blondie has returned."_  
_  
Tank stared at him unblinkingly with teal eyes. Her dark locks of hair stood away on end from her face in a bright platinum shade. Electric sparks popped in air near Tank's fast-flowing gold aura.

Android 22 hovered closer, never failing to be marveled by the transformation. "My siblings and I could never figure out how you miscreants transform. Remember how Android 18 always concluded that it sprang from a desire to copy her? Battling you, Gohan and Trunks over the years, I observed you saiyans and your fascinating ability to grow stronger. Dr. Gero's plan with my two siblings was flawed in their fixed powers. They could never get stronger—unlike me."

Tank's energy senses told of three fast approaching energies—Krillin, Gohan and Trunks.

Android 22 halted his power-up to see the three clear auras that hovered near Tank.

The three fighters stared in awe at Tank's transformation then to the unfamiliar android in the distance.

Krillin grunted with beads of sweat shining his forehead. "You're kidding me? _Another_one?! At this rate, we'll have more androids than I can count."

Android 22 narrowed his attention on Krillin's statement. There were only supposed to be three androids. Was the bald man dense or were there more androids in this timeline?

Gohan and Trunks peered back to Tank and the latter couldn't help but remember her earlier comment of "I'm human." Only human? He had wondered and now gazing at her super saiyan features now, if she was definitely human, she was at least half saiyan too.

"Ah…Krillin and young Gohan, I killed you both in my time. Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for Trunks."

Blondie I can handle but four on one, especially when I don't know how powerful Gohan and Trunks are, would be too risky.

As if watching in slow motion, Tank recognized how Android 22 folded his arms over his chest and bent his knees. The tail of his tied hair, as if manipulated by static electric spread up like a paper-fan. In between blinking, watching Android 22 and spotting the others lunging forward to attack, her vision appeared to ripple. When she blinked again, her vision was clear again, but she lost Android 22.

Three fists hit an after image. The fighters near bumped into each other before realizing their target had disappeared. They spun around, ardently searching for the redheaded android.

The lavender haired teenager felt cold sweat on his brow. He had never seen an android move so fast— He looked to Tank who had dropped her defenses and felt his blood boil. "Why aren't you looking?! He couldn't have gone far!"

Tank, formerly mentally preoccupied, turned her attention to Trunks and groaned a short throaty noise. "Trust me in that you won't find him. He's gone." She said impassively and curtly. She exhaled and her reversed to her ordinary power level.

"I don't get it. Why not attack us?" Krillin griped.

"He has already killed you before. What interest should he have in killing you again?" Tank responded sharply.

Krillin was caught off guard as he let out a shaky yelp. _Did she have to be so harsh…?_

"He mentioned his time so is what how you know him, Tank?" Gohan considered.

Tank withheld her annoyance for the sake of the younger demi-saiyan. "Yes, he is part of the trio that pulverized Earth in my time."

"Is he strong?"

"The fact that he is still alive certainly validates that."

Gohan glanced away to think about his observation while Tank pulled her jacket tighter around her torso as exhaustion shivers raced down her body. Going super had sapped a lot of energy she needed to hold off on sleeping. She'd need to fully rest soon but there was still so much to do…

Trunks was at the end of his patience with Tank. He was gonna get some answers from her now. He had waited long enough. Since she showed up, three mysterious things had happened: the mossy time machine, the giant cicada shell and another android.

The female arrival stretched her ki senses further then turned back to the lavender haired teenager. "Trunks, didn't I tell you to make sure Bulma got away?"

The abrupt mention of Bulma was enough to distract his train of thought. "What do you mean? I saw her decapsulize her jet—"

"Then _why_ do I still sense that she's still where you left her?" Tank scolded. She huffed and set two fingers to her forehead to concentrate on the small energy.

"Hold it!" Krillin cried. "At least take us with you this time."

Tank waited until Krillin touched her left arm and Gohan held the other. Trunks set a hand down on Gohan's shoulder. Krillin glimpsed at Tank's features again and couldn't help but think that it was the second time that way that he was standing near her. He blushed as they disappeared from the crumbling town.

* * *

"Mother! Why did you stay after I told you to leave?!"

Just as Tank had said, Bulma had been strolling aimlessly between her jet and battered time machine. "Well excuuuuuse me?! I was _gonna_ leave but I couldn't lift the shell-thing all by myself _and _you guys left your time machines out in the open! So, I waited! Because one of us had to have a decent head on their shoulders!" Bulma huffed, tightly crossing her arms, squeezing the time machine capsules in her hand.

Trunks cowered from Bulma's scalding reply and Tank chuckled softly.

Gohan slumped and sighed with disbelief. "Oh man. Now we've got that guy."

"This day can't get any worse." Krillin grumbled. "That makes four androids."

Tank recalled how her computer noticed an unidentifiable android riding with 17 and 18, which counted three androids. With Android 22, that was four. She swallowed for her dry throat. "Actually that brings us up to five."

"His name is Cell and he's an android." Tank began. She turned away suddenly, unable to stand, yet again, their surprise and fear. "Unlike the other autotrophic partially artificial cyborgs, Cell is wholly heterotrophic biomechanical organism—"

Krillin timidly held up his hand before interrupting. "Sorry to cut in…but do you mind explaining it more_ in English_…"

Bulma rolled her eyes thinking, sheesh, don't they know _anything_?

Tank hiked a brow but obliged. "He doesn't look like Androids 17 and 18. And he needs to consume life forms for energy."

"You still haven't explained a thing about yourself. How do you know about them?" Trunks insisted.

Tank inhaled deeply to give herself more time to gather her thoughts. "Because they killed Earth's forces in my time—Piccolo, Vegeta, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Krillin, and Gohan."

Gohan flinched when Tank uttered his name but remained silent. Android 22 had said that he had killed the Gohan of his time.

"Twelve months after Goku died of a new heart virus, three beings appeared nine miles South of South city. Immediately, Earth's defenses were obliterated." Tank reached into her jacket pocket and showed a protective container. Releasing the lock, she carefully removed a hand-held device. "_This _is the remote we used to deactivate the androids in the past and future."

Struggling with a rush of deja vu, staring at the ground was all Trunks could do to restrain from demanding more answers from Tank. Why wasn't it _six_ months after Goku died in her time? What made hers and his time different yet so similar? Slowly, he peered up and stared with avid interest at the mechanical device.

_Now do you believe me?! _Tank wanted to shout to him, but controlled the urge. The Trunks she had known wouldn't have welcomed her with open arms in a similar situation.

All other eyes widened at the remote in her hand, Trunks looked ready to leap for it. "Don't bother. I've already found the androids in this time and the remote was useless against them. If I build another, it will probably be from scratch."

"Did you come here to warn us about this new threat and Android 22?" Krillin exclaimed, shakily.

Tank shook her head. "Not really, as you can see," she gestured to the slimy skin. "A warning won't do much good at this point. Ideally, I wouldn't be here chatting with you. You'll hear about Cell's destruction soon enough on the news. Had I been quick enough, I wouldn't have needed to confront you all."

"What do you mean?" Gohan added.

"I hoped to destroy Cell in his larvae form like a sitting duck. But the one time I locate the machine, he manages to surpass my initial calculations and reach his humanoid-form faster than before."

"What do you mean _this one time_?" Trunks exasperated, but immediately understood. "How many time periods have you been to?"

Tank momentarily shut her eyes as if to count then she held out four fingers. "Four: My home timeline and one where we ventured to warn Goku. The third and fourth one, now, was me chasing after Cell after he stole our time machine."

"For the last two years, I've been hunting Cell down. I've stopped him so far but I could never trap him in any time period as long as he had my machine. With the machine in tattered condition and the battery gauge nearly dead, Cell won't be going anywhere. But now he's in his humanoid-form and with the androids currently activated…. I thought finding the time machine would relieve me." Tank bit her lip, her brows furrowed. "If Cell hadn't severely damaged my machine in the previous timeline, I would have beat him here."

"But what does he have to do with the androids? And what about Android 22? If you claim to know about the androids as well as I do, then you know they are monsters that nobody can defeat." Trunks shouted.

A smirk twitched across Tank's lips—it was like looking into a mirror of herself in the past. "In the last timeline, Cell's power equaled that of an individual android. That probably explains why he was able to evolve back into his humanoid form in just one year while before it took him two—

"You didn't answer me. What does this Cell have to do with Androids 17 and 18?!" Trunks' fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Tank inhaled a deep breath to halt her incitement from his impatience.

Trunks didn't believe that she understood the magnitude of the power of the androids, but she mutually conceived that Trunks wasn't listening to her about Cell.

She decided to explain slower, as she had also been in disbelief when she discovered another monster stronger than the androids that petrified her world. "Gero designed Cell to be biologically compatible with the androids. In order to achieve his most powerful form, Cell must absorb Androids 17 and 18. With his tail, he sucks in flesh until nothing but clothing remains."

Tank involuntarily gagged as if a bad taste coated her mouth. She watched as their faces contorted from their imagining of the monster Cell.

"And…what about this Android 22? He mentioned that he…was from another time." Krillin purposely left out how the android gleefully reminisced about his death. Does he have a time machine too?" Krillin asked.

Tank shook her head. "No. He doesn't need a time machine. Gero designed Android 22 to manipulate time."

"Impossible!" Trunks cried while the others gasped.

"You mean—was that how he escaped without a trace?" Krillin pondered.

Tank nodded. _Well done, Krillin. Not so thick after all._

"Sounds bleak for us." Krillin grimaced, his face pale.

"What does 22 have to do with this Cell?" Gohan asked.

"He doesn't know Cell. Android 22 acts as an eternal bodyguard for Androids 17 and 18." _Until they can reach their full potential, _Tank recalled fearfully. Cell used similar rhetoric. Without really knowing it, could Android 22 be unconsciously fighting to protect 17 and 18 for Cell?

"What makes him so strong that he can survive several timelines?" Gohan pondered. "Could he have been deactivated with that remote like the other androids?"

"Other than the fact that he can freeze time when he starts losing?" Krillin groaned.

"Wait-time travel requires intense energy. Even with unlimited power generators, gathering energy for back-to-back leaps in time _should _take a lot of time. In other words, he can't use time manipulation too often." Trunks concluded.

Tank nodded her head. "The reason he has survived this long is because he falls off the radar more often than not. _Today is not a good example_ but destruction is not his style. In the past, he mostly sat aside passively while the other androids played. Whenever me and the others turned up to take them down, he'd turn into a soldier, protect them."

"_Protect_ them? From us? From Cell? For what?" Krillin asked.

Tank tipped her head down, unable to answer the question. "I-I don't know." She murmured.

Everyone but Bulma stared point blank at the dirt, slowly digesting Tank's explanations, unsure if to believe them. Tank allowed a few moments of silence to calm her anxiety.

She had seen twice before how such alarming news from a stranger "from the future" couldn't sink through the visual sighting of the androids. Trunks had done such a good job of warning the Z fighters to prepare for the androids that they were unable to comprehend the idea of yet two other threats, especially one that could be more powerful than the androids they all had spent three years training for.

"Where is Son Goku right now?" Tank asked, needing one of her own questions answered.

Gohan finally lifted his head; the worry from the situation had subsided. "My dad is resting at Master Roshi's house."

"So he did survive the virus..." Tank muttered softly to herself, her words completely overpowered by Bulma's question.

"Why at Kame's house?"

"The androids want to find my dad, but his heart is still recovering. We thought that the androids would try and find him at our home, so we hid him at Kame house for the time being." Gohan uttered reluctantly.

Tank recalled the familiar mountainous background of her first sighting of the androids of the current time; they must have been heading towards the Son home. It still surprised her that the androids were driving a van instead of flying, but that worked to their advantage according to Gohan's statement. "If the androids are busy searching for Goku, that means we have time." She added.

She turned to the rest of the group and showed a brief smile. "Should we go to Kame house?"

Gohan gave a laugh while Krillin nodded his head in approval. "Let's go."

Trunks hadn't managed to say anything in agreement though they all assumed that he would join them.

Bulma rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I guess I'll go take that egg shell-thing back to the lab to test its age." She turned back to the shed-skin, her lip quivered with disgust. "And maybe that too so I can see if there's anything we can figure out from that..._thing_." She continued, "One thing I don't understand is why you all didn't destroy the androids when you saw them earlier?"

Trunks fought back an impatient snort. "Don't be silly mother. Father, Piccolo, Tien attacked them but to no avail. Not even a scratch."

Tank cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, is Vegeta alright?" Bulma asked.

"He was alright after he was given a senzu bean. He has no will to work with us." Trunks said with visible disappointment.

"But are all of them alive? Piccolo and Tien?" Tank asked.

Krillin narrowed on Tank, surprised by her wording 'alive' but answered her. "Everyone managed to survived, but they weren't interested in annihilating us."

"Get out of here! Three years worth of training and not one of you could fight them?!" Bulma exasperated.

Trunks stared blankly the ground, recalling his thoughts of how different things were from his time. "They're much stronger in this time than in my time."

Tank sighed; her suspicions confirmed. "That might be my fault. With each time I visit, I notice changes with the androids. Differences in design, power, personality, unfortunately more and more against our favor. That might explain why this remote is useless against them in this time, but not in the others."

Silence fell over the group until Krillin suggested that they leave soon. They all flew back to the time machines, with Bulma carried by Gohan.

With assistance from Gohan, Bulma carried the skin and egg-shell into her plane, tiptoeing around the skin as if expecting it to come alive. Trunks capsulized both machines, placing his one with the rest of his capsules. He hesitated before setting the foreign machine with his capsules. With an open hand, he held out his arm for Tank to take it.

"Thank you, Trunks." Tank mumbled, taking the capsule from his hand and set it carefully next to her time machine.

Bulma watched this exchange with pride. "Man, I must be a real genius if I could create a time machine." She turned to leave, "oh, and Trunks, if you ever have time, feel free to drop by. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa will be thrilled." As she passed by Tank's line of vision, she gave the slightest of winks to the girl.

Tank hadn't known if anyone else saw Bulma's gesture, but she didn't call any attention to it.

Bulma's plane hovered from the ground, sending a powerful rush of air around them but the four still remaining in the grass were unfazed. Trunks watched attentively until his mother's plane was a safe distance, heading South-West for West Capitol.

Krillin turned to Tank suddenly. "I trust you know where Kame house is?" He tested.

Tank smirked and focused her energy for flight. _I could find that place blindfolded, _Tank resisted saying. In a blue aura, she lifted off from the grass, arcing towards South-East.

Satisfied, Gohan and Krillin immediately powered up to follow. A second later, Trunks followed, in line with Gohan and Krillin as they trailed Tank.

* * *

Tank had known where Kame house was, the three men thought to themselves as she slowed her flight speed in order to descend upon a lonely island in the middle of the Southern Ocean.

"We're here, sorry to bother you Master Roshi," Gohan announced modestly as the four of them stepped in one by one into Kame house, Tank being the last one inside.

Their expressions tightened due to the nervous atmosphere that hung amongst the members of the house. The Kame house was _silent,_ save for the television. No arguing, no laughter, just strong focus on the news broadcast. Chi-Chi, her face whiter than snow, appeared as if she were about to faint, held the phone to Yamcha's ear. The man in the orange gi stared frighteningly at the television.

"Yes, Bulma, they just returned, she said—huh?" Yamcha said as he turned to the door, just now realizing there was a serious-looking stranger who stood with Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks.

"Do any of you know what this means?" Master Roshi, sitting on his couch, leaning towards the television, mumbled without removing his focus.

Tank heard a round of gunfire blasting from the television's speaker than the crinkle of static as the picture flickered.

"CHANGE THE CHANNEL!" Yamcha yelled, startling Krillin to rush to the television's dial to find another news channel.

"His screaming...it stopped." Yamcha stammered with alarm.

Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks who found themselves surrounded around the television, peered nervously to each other then finally, in unison to the door, to Tank.

"That's directly south of where we found that skin." Trunks stated.

The silence that replaced the frightened chatter increased Tank's anxiety. She strode forward, the tension unfazed at how loud her boots clicked against the hardwood floor. The camera shot was showing the vertical as the horizon, as if the camera had been tossed, but along the ground, there was a single garment. "I have zero doubt that it's him."

She ground her teeth in spite of herself. Cell's power seemed to soar exponentially with each new time period. She had never seen Cell begin his hunt so soon. Tank bit her lip then tightened her fists and left for the door, gathering another round of energy for flight. "I'm leaving."

"Wait? Stop!" Gohan gasped.

Tank turned around at the door to face each of them. "Don't try and stop me."

"Wait—Tank! I'm going with you." Trunks followed her outside.

"Don't! You'll get in the way!" Tank glared, but her mouth fell agape when a strong presence of energy spiked everyone's attention. Krillin, Gohan, and Yamcha sprinted outside, sharing matching expressions of fear and dread towards the West, where the auspicious energy could be felt.

"What's this energy that I'm feeling?!" Krillin yelled, shaking with worry.

"I feel Frieza, King Cold, and _my dad!_" Gohan's jaw shook so severely he could barely utter his words. Suddenly he flew to the side of Kame house to inspect the bedroom window.

"I sense Piccolo, Tien, and my father." Trunks muttered. "This can't be..."

"Impossible!" Yamcha quivered. "Frieza's dead! Dead I say! And his father is dead too! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"And my father's still sleeping in the house!" Gohan pointed, hovering in the air.

"We shouldn't have flown here hastily. We've be there by now if we stayed near that town." Tank glared at the flowing ocean water at her boots, hiding her surprise at Cell's jump in strength since the last time she had faced him.

Tank understood their dread, but they were wasting precious time. "I must leave now." She froze when she felt an unfamiliar and strong power level, unsure of what to make of it. _Who could that possibly be? And why haven't I sensed them before? _"Trunks—" Her call managed to pull Trunks from his trance. "Are you still coming? I might need your help."

Her admittance caused Trunks to focus and he replied with a soft nod.

"I thought all we had to worry about were those androids you warned us about!" Yamcha exclaimed, unable to contain his fear. "And you, young girl, you shouldn't be involved in this! These monsters that you're able to chase after are very powerful!"

Tank glared at Yamcha and unconsciously the muscles tightened in her arm. _Why I oughta..._"Don't start with me, Yamcha." She snapped.

Yamcha stepped back, more thrown off by the unknown girl knowing his name than by her tone or words.

Chi-Chi had stumbled outside with Master Roshi. The sun glared pointedly on the turtle hermit's sunglasses. "This energy that I'm feeling doesn't belong to the androids, Yamcha. It would appear as if we have yet another problem on our hands."

"I'm going too!" Gohan powered up, but was thrown off by his mother's shriek.

"Never! Gohan! I absolutely forbid it!" Dramatically, the mother began to weep, her knees gave in and she flopped to the ground. Gohan rushed to console his mother.

"Mom, mom." He started softly. "It's alright..."

"You stay here with your mother, father, Master Roshi, and Yamcha." Krillin said, but with certain reluctance as if he expected to regret his actions. "I'm going too. I need to see this for myself."

"So long." Trunks mumbled as a clear wave of energy glimmered around him in preparation for flight.

Krillin bowed his head and fired by curiosity and anticipation of a good fight, he powered up.

"Bye Auntie Chi-Chi!" Tank waved, which caused the crying mother to look up.

Before Chi-Chi could confirm or deny what she heard, Tank, Trunks, and Krillin darted into the sky until they become tiny specks like stars in the bright blue horizon.

Yamcha huffed loudly, crossing his arms pointedly, slightly relieved with fewer people on the island. "How did she know my name?"

"Beats me," Chi-Chi mumbled against her son's embrace. "She did look a little familiar though..."

Yamcha shook his head, decidedly, shrugging Chi-Chi's observation. "No way, I've never seen _her_ before."

* * *

Krillin and Trunks flew alongside Tank straight for Sherry Town.

"Tank! Is this _Cell_ the reason why we were able to sense Goku, Vegeta, Tien, and Piccolo?" Krillin shouted over the air pressure.

"Definitely though I'm not sure why. I theorized that Dr. Gero made him that way so he could attract the androids to absorb them." Tank said to both of them.

"There's another large power level also coming from Sherry Town." Trunks said with sweat glistening on his forehead as his worry escalated.

Krillin analyzed the power deeply then grinned from ear to ear with an excited laugh. "It's Piccolo!"

Tank nearly stopped in midair. "What?! _That's_ Piccolo?" She gawked, trying to feel anything familiar about the energy. "But, then why couldn't he have defeated the androids with that kind of power? Or are you telling me that the androids are even more powerful than I suspected?!" She prayed for that not to be true.

"No, that power level is far too high to be Piccolo. The Piccolo I saw just a few hours ago did not have that kind of power." Trunks said, earning a sigh from Tank.

Krillin wasn't listening, laughing too loudly and enthusiastically to hear their words. "Incredible! He must have rejoined with Kami!"

Tank blinked but took a leap of faith. "I had no idea it was possible. This certainly didn't happen in any of the other timelines. No way would I have guessed that Piccolo could have that much power! This changes everything!" Unable to contain the optimism within her, Tank daringly increased her speed, rocketing ahead of the two.

Krillin and Trunks flew faster, struggling to keep up with the thrilled Tank.

The two powerful energy levels were getting closer and closer as the outskirts of the town zipped by below. There was an explosion far ahead of the trio; they all halted their flight to gaze at the gold mushroom cloud.

"The fight's already started!" Krillin shouted, shutting his eyes against the blowing dust.

"Whose attack was that?!" Trunks yelled as his entire body lit from the blast.

"I have no idea—so strong." Tank choked out. Unconsciously, her excitement soared and the blood rushed in her veins with power begging to be released, to be tested. Tank breathed in deeply to relax herself, grateful that Krillin and Trunks were also waiting for the blast to clear.

When the blinding light faded and left the crystal blue sky, the trio continued towards the center of Sherry Town. Tank panned her neck, as they flew over destruction from the battle. Suddenly two beings stood amongst the rumble, one with a distinctive stinger tail. The trio stopped to stare upon the monster.

Tank gritted her teeth with uncontainable disgust then forcibly cleared her mind to prepare for battle. As she lowered herself beside Piccolo, she stretched her limbs defensively. Even from the distance, Tank could make out Cell's face of surprise at Trunks then as he saw her, and hatefully narrowed his red-eyed glare on her. Cell let out a low, vicious growl and positioned his stinger tail like a dagger pointed right at Tank.

The teenage girl glowered at the monster, feeling something to the degree of fire boiling in her blood.

His slitted eyes were fixed on her violet set with abhorrence. The android was troubled with containing his urge to race forward and snap her neck like a twig. He licked his lips at the thought. _She has caused me far too much inconvenience. I should have been complete years ago. I should have destroyed her with the time machine, _Cell thought atrociously. Tank was deaf to the confused rambling surrounding her, attempting to control her anger before she acted recklessly.

Piccolo twitched as he laid his sight on the young stranger. "Who the hell is this supposed to be?"

Krillin and Trunks landed next to them, slightly recognizing the form of the monster from the shed skin. Yet they were unable to turn away from the mottled, tall, bug-like humanoid. Wings shadowed the creature's back with a needle-ended tail wagging from behind.

"Don't worry about her for now, Piccolo. Just know that she's on our side." Krillin affirmed the Namekian.

Before Piccolo could respond, the monster slammed his tail into the rubble angrily and hissed to them.

"Why, hello Tank."

* * *

Tell me what you think. The hardest thing about this chapter was trying not to seem like I wrote straight from the manga or anime... I know I gave a lot of information in this chapter so if I'm progressively too fast, please let me know!

More timelines...

1) Main time

2) Future Trunks (unseen)

3) Tank & Cell

4) When Tank ventured into the past to warn Goku

5) After Cell stole the machine, Tank followed him to this timeline.

Again, I hope that isn't confusing... Anyway, con-crit is more than welcome!


	4. HSoTank 2: Half of Something

The Third & The History of Tank

Chapter 4

Hello again! Dankeschön to Juliedoo for reviewing the last chapter! Glad you see everything as plausible :) This is another edition of History of Tank and dare I say it, the dog days are over.

As someone who is fairly knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the DBZ plot, one thing I found to be difficult to swallow was the assumption that Goku and the others abandoned Earth after their deaths. To remedy that I'm going to give them some input in this story. Hope you like it.

Warning: This chapter includes violence instigated by evil mechanical cyborgs against children. AND this hasn't been beta'ed...

* * *

The History of Tank: Chapter 2

Otherworld, April 21st, 773, Timeline #3

King Yemma read over the request with scrupulous attention. He couldn't recollect the last time he was presented with a one-day revival request and now he was being presented with _six _on a single contract. He read over the reasons and purpose for the revivals and though it greatly pained him to do so, he pressed his unsightly red stamp on the contract.

The long white sheet with a large REJECTED imprinting drifted down to requesters. A wild-haired man clad in a orange and blue training _gi_ groused painstakingly.

"Rejected?!" Goku cried, clenching his fists.

There was an outcry from Fortuneteller Baba, Goku, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo. They all groaned and gasped from disappointment.

King Yemma leaned over with effort from his colossal height and saw the old woman floating upon a crystal ball amongst the large muscular fighters. "Five revivals from Otherworld and one from Hell to fight on Earth?! I'm sorry Baba but you know six on one contract takes more power than we're capable of."

"Then send the strongest back!" Krillin urged.

"Send Goku and Piccolo! Or Vegeta!" Tien added.

King Yemma couldn't help but glance over the contract once more. Five of the six requesters were standing before him, leading him to wonder, did they even ask the Saiyan Prince before they put his name on the request?

With a heavy heart, King Yemma reinforced his refusal, "The reason specified in the contract is not justified."

"Not justified?!" Yamcha exclaimed.

"Have you seen the horror back on Earth?!" Tien rasped.

King Yemma flipped the pages of his large notebook, spotting all of the souls arriving in masses from the blue planet. "I AM aware of the massacre those mechanical monstrosities are committing on Earth. After each attack, they come by the thousands." King Yemma looked over to the never ending line of ghosts.

"We've got to do something!"

"You must let us go back to Earth!"

"Everyone is counting on us!"

The five men were tiny compared to the giant yet their voices reached the four corners of the hall, clouding King Yemma's ability to string a sentence in his thoughts. Tired of trying to get a word in the argument, he slammed his palm soundly on his desk.

"SILENCE!" His powerful voice overpowered the desperate clamor, dashing their hopes of changing his mind. The men stopped shouting mid-sentence, shaking from emotion, and then finally tipping their heads in defeat. King Yemma began again, calmer. "It is out of my power to grant this request. You have all been dead for about five Earth years and it would be irresponsible of me to let the dead interfere. It is not your place anymore. That's my final decision." For effect, he slammed his hammer and bellowed, "Next!"

* * *

Goku, Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha and Tien bitterly returned to King Kai's planet. Krillin trembled from anger that was progressively difficult to contain. Finally he yowled then smashed his fist into the concrete walkway of King Kai's home. The concrete split and cracked a sizable rift towards King Kai's car.

The Northern Lord's antennae flicked straight up from distress. "Wah! Watch the car you vandal!"

Krillin's fellow dead fighters stared on empathetically. If they all showed their emotion, King Kai's planet would be rubble.

"Damn it." Krillin groused slowly regaining his stance.

"I really thought we're going back to Earth." Yamcha heaved dejectedly.

"How can King Yemma _mean '_not our place anymore?!" Tien's bald head was shiny from nervous beads of sweat.

"It just means that we have to find another way to Earth." Piccolo muttered as he sat arms crossed against the sole tree on the planet.

The four fighters instantly turned to the most silent of their group: Son Goku. As the strongest, he was their natural leader. Yet he merely stared down at his boots with an expression nearing forfeit.

"I never imagined he would say no to you, Goku." Tien grunted then gritted his teeth.

"We saved the Earth how many times and now we're stuck here in Otherworld doing nothing!" Krillin griped. "It can't end like this."

"King Kai! You have to negotiate with King Yemma. The androids are ruining the whole planet." Yamcha pleaded.

The Northern Kai's antennae drooped, pondering and conjuring dreadful images of Earth. He hated himself for what he needed to tell them.

"King Kai?!" Krillin hollered, his voice piercing through King Kai's train of thought.

"What?!" The Kai snapped. "I told you guys that King Yemma would have no choice but to refuse the request. Why should he approve? So you all can go down there and_ DIE_ again?! The truth is that none of you are strong enough to fight the androids. Even if you were, I cannot treat your case any differently than any other planet. Unnra, another planet just like Earth is suffering from a planet-wide civil war. Do you know how many fighters would also return to Unnra if given the chance? We cannot bend the rules for an isolated threat."

"There weren't rules when you needed us to fight Frieza!" Piccolo hoarsely shouted.

"We helped save the Namekians from extinction and Goku destroyed the tyrant Frieza and we can't even save our own planet?!" Krillin exclaimed.

King Kai clenched his fists and shook his head viciously. "Don't any of you understand?! Frieza was _different_. He was a threat to the entire cosmos and warranted Otherworld's interference. There are thousands of planets in my quadrant and not all of them are in peace. King Yemma and I cannot grant favoritism when we know of millions of other dead warriors who want to fight for their planet. You all know I'm profoundly sorry, but you are all dead and of Otherworld now. The dead and Otherworld are not supposed to interfere with the living world."

"You've seen it King Kai! Gohan and the others need our help!" Tien persisted.

"You can't tell us that we can't do anything to help them!" Yamcha choked out.

King Kai frowned. He wished as much of them that King Yemma could grant their request, but it was simply impossible. "I'm sorry boys, but Gohan and the others are on their own."

Whatever hope that survived King Yemma's rejection floundered in their sorrow, wallowing deeper and deeper until they could no longer feel it. Time drifted faster in Otherworld yet five years on Earth dragged like a century to the Z-warriors.

One by one they joined Goku, who died suddenly of a heart virus, but one consolation was their ability to brainstorm together. For over five years they deliberated, watching as Earth's forces dwindled in strength than into hiding. The android trio lived unchallenged at the expense of the Earthlings and it was maddening that there was _nothing they could do!_ Though none of them verbally admitted it, they mutually blamed themselves for their failure. The bright future they imagined after Frieza was ripped to shreds because of their lack of strength.

Gohan, whom they last saw as a ten year old boy, had inherited the burden. Trunks and Tank were still so young. Trunks was a newborn when they died and none of them had met Tank. It was hard to decide what was more saddening: Gohan the cheery child they knew burdened because of their failure or Bulma's kids growing up without knowing peace.

However, they imagined Goku to be saddest of them all. He hadn't even gotten the chance to challenge the androids. He muttered occasionally that he thought he could have made a difference if his chance hadn't been stolen by a virus.

They all turned to their leader as if praying for his usual optimism to suddenly smile at them and declare that he knew a way to bypass the rules or that if they just trained enough they could win.

They didn't count how long they stood in silence until Goku placed two fingers to his forehead. Before his best friend could react and inquire as to where he was going, the saiyan disappeared.

"Gok—Where did he go?"

* * *

Earth, April 21st, 773, Timeline #3

Tank sheepishly yawned and stretched her entire body. She grabbed her glass of water and headed for bed. Trunks was already asleep according to his minute and steady energy level while her mother was most likely in her lab…again. She didn't need to sense energy to figure that one out.

Tank's reflection briefly skimmed over her full length mirror. Thoughtfully she stopped and stared at herself.

Saiyan. _And _human.

Or human and saiyan.

She had been told by her mother that she was exactly half of each.

Tank then pulled back her pajamas to scrutinize her arms, stomach, and neck, as if expecting a distinct line marking her saiyan self and her human self.

There was nothing different about her. She had looked exactly the same as any other human. Granted, she had never seen a purebred Saiyan in the flesh, but she had seen photographs.

Of Goku and her father...

Besides her father's inhumane ability to do anything but glare in photographs, both of them looked as much human as the other members of the photos. That is, save for their wild jet black hair. Sure Tank had dark hair but many humans had dark hair.

_"Gohan, Trunks, and you are the last of the Saiyan race."_

Tank hadn't expressed to her mother after she said that statement how insane she thought it all was. How was she supposed to be half of the last of something that she couldn't understand? Surely, it wasn't possible to be perfectly half of something and another? Tank could more be human in some aspects and more saiyan in others, but where could a line be drawn?

Trunks and Tank had nearly memorized the stories their mother and Gohan shared with them about their fathers. Gohan had seen them fight meanwhile Bulma had seen them live outside the battlefield.

_"Great warrior, your father was a great warrior." _Gohan had said.

She stared at herself until her nose almost touched the mirror, feeling puny and inadequate in her pajamas. Gohan was a Saiyan. Trunks was a Saiyan. Something about them, Tank could feel it, something powerful, something _within _them was different. Tank couldn't even learn to fly.

Tank balled her hands into fists, trying to imagine the utter strength of her father and Goku. How was she supposed to descend from that?! In the world could _she _compare to that? And how was she supposed to hold her own against Gohan and Trunks?

Her vision grew blurry from tears and then suddenly, she ran from her room.

She wiped her tears as she stepped down the layer of steps to her mother's laboratory. Tank had noticed that her mother had spent more and more nights typing away at her computers. Sure, there were computers upstairs, yet Bulma needed to work with space.

"Mommy?"

Bulma's typing halted and while removing her computer glasses, she spun in her chair towards her daughter's sniffling voice. Bulma knew that saddened face stained with tears even though Tank was sure to brush away most of the evidence of her crying. Most of it. "What's the matter, kiddo?"

Tank's mouth waggled for a moment, unable to articulate the emotions inside. Suddenly Bulma picked up her little daughter and carried her back upstairs. Sitting them both on the couch, Bulma managed to pull over a blanket over them both, with Tank's head resting on her shoulder. "What's on your mind, kid?" Bulma tried again.

"Mom...what if...what if I'm not a Saiyan?"

Bulma blinked, flabbergasted. "Hmm, what do you mean, Tank?"

Tank bit her lip. "I don't think I'm a Saiyan."

Bulma wanted to laugh but didn't for the sake of her daughter's sensitivity. "Honey, your father was all Saiyan, which makes you half."

"But! But is there a way I couldn't be?" Tank was now shaking, fighting back frustrated tears. Why was her mother taking this so easily?! Didn't she understand? "Is there a way that I could only be human?"

In response to her daughter's quiver, Bulma hugged her tighter. She humorously wondered if her daughter was trying to ask if Bulma had birthed her asexually. She had no such conversation with Trunks before, which brought the question as to why her only daughter had doubts. She sighed softly to herself, _how do you answer such a question? _"Why don't you think you're a Saiyan, Tank? Or do you just want to be all human?"

Tank swallowed a heavy lump in her throat, unsure of how to formulate a single reason for the massive amount of internal doubt within her.

"Does it have to do with the other day?" Bulma helped, alluding to Tank's first attempts to fly.

Tank flexed her toes under the blanket, watching the blanket flow up and down like tiny mountains. "I guess so." Tank lowered her head, allowing her brown hair to fall over her face.

Bulma gently swept the stray pieces of hair and placed them over Tank's ear. She had seen many times bits of her daughter's potential. "You're not one to give up, Tank, just like your father."

Tank's focus narrowed on her toes, signaling her deep thought.

Tank, unlike Trunks, Bulma had noticed, did not stir after being associated with Vegeta. Normally, Bulma wouldn't verbally make such comparisons, but had hoped that such would have been reassuring to the little girl.

Bulma set Tank aside and stood up, hands on hips pointedly. "Well, kid, I know what will cheer you up." She turned back slowly, judging by Tank's confused face; she knew she had won her attention. "Do you want your pancakes with chocolate or lemon with sugar?"

A smile on Tank's face stretched from ear to ear. "Both!" She exclaimed, throwing back the blanket, hopping from the couch to her feet.

Bulma giggled softly, _that's much better. _"I'll start on a batch, check and see if your brother is still awake and ask if he would like some as well."

Tank pouted and set her hands to her hips pointedly. "Can't I just have his pancake?"

"_Go _ask, Tank." Bulma mused.

With purposefully giant stomps, Tank entered the hall towards the bedrooms.

Amused, Bulma shook her head. Even if Trunks was asleep, Tank would squeeze his nose until he was awake and of course he wouldn't say no to pancakes.

* * *

July 3rd, 773, Timeline #3

Chi-Chi whipped a freshly clean bed sheet in the air before pinning it on the drying line. She smoothed the creases and breathed in a deep inhale of clean air. She brushed her fringe away from her brows and felt the early morning sun against her cheeks.

"Hmm, what a beautiful day?" Chi-Chi said to no one, satisfied with her full line of drying sheets. Hands balanced at her hips, she gazed at the flowers and stream that flowed along her home. Ahead of her, there were a line of trees and within the branches was a bird's nest. A new batch of hatch-lings was chirping softly to be fed by their mother.

Chi-Chi smiled, but bitter sweetly. The Chikyuu area seemed like it were frozen in time. Unlike the surrounding cities, the area had not been maimed by the androids.

_Yet._

Sighing, Chi-Chi turned back to the house, her home since she had been a young adult, and thought with concern for her father and only son. With a quick turn against the sun, Chi-Chi gazed to the West, hoping and wishing the best for Bulma's family.

In a way, with the children, and their mutual loss of their life partners, Chi-Chi and Bulma had gotten closer over the years. Gohan treated Trunks and Tank like his own siblings, teaching them and protecting them. Chi-Chi loved Trunks and Tank as much as Bulma loved Gohan. Bulma and Chi-Chi had a silent but mutual understanding that whenever one of them felt heartbroken from their loss; they could look on to the other for strength, knowing that they had experienced the same pain.

Suddenly, Chi-Chi spotted a rapidly moving gold cloud, racing straight for her home. The cloud stopped and a child hopped off onto the dirt pathway. Chi-Chi relaxed when she recognized the wild-haired little girl, running towards the mother with a smile.

"Hi Auntie Chi-Chi!" Tank greeted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Good morning, Tank!" Chi-Chi replied sweetly then peered up. _No Bulma or Trunks? _"Um, Tank, are your mother and brother here?"

Tank's bottom lip pouted. "No_p_e."

Chi-Chi straightened and set an authoritative hand to her hip. "Now, Tank, do they know you're here?"

Tank nodded her head. "Yes they do! I mean...mom does. Trunks doesn't...he would have asked to come along but I needed to ask you something..."

"Hmm, ask me what, Tank?" Chi-Chi hummed.

Tank tapped her fingertips together bashfully. "Um, I wanted to know...if you..._knew..._anything about...saiyans." Tank had effectively shut her eyes at the final word.

Chi-Chi's thin brows lifted. She thought carefully for a moment. Then she bent down to match Tank's level. "Honey, don't you think that Gohan might be a better person for this? I can get him if you would like."

Tank rubbed her arms, unsure. "Well, it's just...you used to be a fighter...and you're a girl too."

Chi-Chi's attention peaked. _Did Gohan or Bulma tell her that I used to fight? Hmm. _The mother patted the girl's head. "Help me hang the rest of this laundry and I'll tell you all I know over a cup of tea."

Tank's cheeks glowed from excitement. "Sure!" Chi-Chi handed her a cloth and they spread it across the line to dry.

_Nothing beats having an extra hand. _Chi-Chi smiled as she gazed at the airing laundry. All hung in record breaking time. She led herself and the little girl inside and switched on the kettle. "So, what is it you would like to know, Tank?"

Tank sat herself at the tea table. She swung her short legs in her seat since they couldn't touch the ground. She scratched the back of her head. "I guess, as a girl...I don't have much of an example. Mommy isn't a saiyan and you're the only girl fighter I know. Trunks and Gohan seem fine, but my brother and me haven't met a saiyan before. I mean, we've met Gohan, but not a full one and he's a boy."

"So you don't know what to expect when you grow up? Is that it, Tank?" Chi-Chi asked and earned a slight nod of the head from the little girl. She turned away briefly to prepare the tea leaves then returned to face Tank.

"I've only meet two full saiyans in my life. Goku and your father. Those two..._drastically _varied as far as personality is concerned, but both were very strong. Determined. Oh and very one tracked minded. It was always about fighting with Goku! Always believing that any and all problems could be solved with his fists!"

The kettle hissed steam to declare the water was hot. Chi-Chi switched it off and poured them each a share of tea.

Tank leaned in when she saw a familiar expression on Chi-Chi. That look of longing...Tank suddenly remembered her mother.

"But I've never fought before, Auntie Chi-Chi!" Tank chirped.

Chi-Chi set a cup in front of their respective seats. Tank swirled the tea, sniffing the distinct scent of peppermint.

"You don't have to fight, Tank. You can be determined in other ways. Like with your studies, just like Gohan." The mother suggested, proudly.

Tank blinked rapidly, slightly confused. "But, Gohan said that he's fought loads of times! Even in outer space!" Tank's imagination soared from the detail of his stories. He told her of the green planet Namek and she imagined respective orange, purple and yellow planets.

Chi-Chi, who had brought her cup to her lips, nearly choked on her first sip of extremely hot tea. "Yes, but those fights were a long time ago. Now, Gohan values the importance of his studies."

Tank blinked more then blew across the brim of her steaming cup. She swore she recalled Gohan saying that he had been in several battles, most life threatening, many by the time he was her age. She carefully sipped some of her tea, but still burned the edge of her tongue.

"Hmm, I will say though, as a _girl fighter _it was difficult at first for the boys to take me seriously. I had to work hard, but then I showed them who they were messing with!" Chi-Chi shut her eyes to reminisce. "You know, I even fought in the World Martial Arts Tournament."

"Wow," Tank gulped. She had never heard of such a tournament, but it sure sounded like a big deal! "I guess I do worry that Gohan and Trunks don't think that I'll ever catch up to them."

Chi-Chi wanted to laugh. "Tank, what makes you think that they would ever think such things?"

The little girl shrugged.

Chi-Chi winked. "Honestly, Tank, you're the only girl-Saiyan that anyone here has ever met. We're going to be learning right along with you, but you are capable of proving yourself in any way you want."

Tank sipped her tea again with widened eyes. _Any way?_

Chi-Chi snickered, pressing her fingers to her lips. "You'll find out what you're good at soon enough and I'm sure you'll make us proud, Tank."

Tank swallowed her warm tea then rushed to hug Chi-Chi. "Thank you, Auntie!"

Chi-Chi returned the tight hug around her waist. "You're welcome, Tank."

Not too much later, Tank bid her farewell then ran outside. She called Kinto-Un and rushed home.

"Be careful!" Chi-Chi yelled after the girl within the frame of her door. She watched the cloud race into the horizon with a smile. When the cloud disappeared, in spite of happy situation, Chi-Chi bit her lip. She had hoped that she hadn't encouraged Tank to believe that she needed to fight the androids. She randomly glanced to her son's window. _Gohan. I certainly hope that you don't, even if you don't mean to, encourage them to fight. And I hope that you don't ever believe that you need to fight as well._

* * *

August 19th, 773, Timeline #3

Tank had finished her breakfast in record time, before Trunks was halfway done, due to sheer excitement for her classmate's birthday party.

"Can we go now? I wish I could have cake _now_." Tank whined, wiping her chin, and spinning like a fan in her chair. Bulma had been just as excited for Tank as Tank was for the party.

"I believe Aino's parents won't give you guys any cake until after you have lunch." Bulma uttered, placing Tank's dirty dish into the sink.

"Well, then can I just have lunch now?" Tank giggled with her hair flowing around her. Next to her, Trunks' mouth was full with half a slice of toast and egg.

Struggling to swallow and not choke was made more difficult as he shoveled more and more bites of food into his mouth.

"No point in trying to keep up with her, Trunks. She _inhaled _her food today." Bulma laughed. She couldn't tell if Trunks was squinting his eyes or if his cheeks were simply too full from food. "Isn't it all the way in Estuary town?"

"Yeah, but we're going hiking through the forest. Breeee breee." Tank flapped her lips to make airplane engine noises while holding her arms up like wings.

Tank suddenly leaped from her chair, "race you outside!" She exclaimed.

"No fair!" Trunks yelled, running after her. "You were already done and mom burned my toast."

Bulma squinted and pouted at wall, stunned.

"No excuse, she burned mine too!" Tank distant voice rang into the kitchen, much to Bulma's dismay. "KINTO-UN!"

The yellow cloud zoomed across the sky and halted in front of the kids. Both of them jumped on and spiraled in the air over the ruins of West City. Even from the distance, Bulma could hear their cheery laughter, laughing so hard that it was difficult to breathe.

"Burned toast, eh?" Bulma sighed in jest, hands on hips, then unplugging the toaster. Perhaps later, while Tank was at the party and Trunks was studying, she could take a look at it.

* * *

Aino's birthday was supposed take place on top of a cliff, not far from one of the most famous waterfalls in the entire world-or at least the only one Tank had ever heard of. On the coach ride up the cliff, Tank sat near a window and was pressing her entire face to the glass, while tugging at her best friend's, May, arm because _she just had to see this._

"Will we get to go see it up close?" Tank mumbled to the glass, her breath fogging up the glass which blurred her view.

"Aino's dad and mom will take us _near _it but probably not close enough because we're just kids. You know"—the sun glared pointedly on May's glasses—"apparently, at the bottom of that waterfall, there are sharp rocks, and if you were to fall, you would die."

"Woooow. When I learn to fly, I'll fly over _any _waterfall." Tank giggled to herself about the idea. "I bet Kinto-un wouldn't mind taking us through the mists."

Two girls sitting behind Tank had heard her statement and in unison rolled their eyes dramatically. "That weird girl is talking about crazy things again." One of them whispered into the others ear, both of them wearing matching expressions of disapproval.

The coach bus stopped when the dirt road ended next to large open field with a covered canopy of trees. When Tank stepped off with her friend, the harsh sun heated her back, but was much cooler was under the shade of trees.

The birthday girl led her closer knit friends to the center of the largest table. May and Tank strolled together staring up high above them at the thick cover of trees. Tank lay in the shade, breathing in the fresh air, hearing birds chirping in the branches above. With a deep exhale of breath, she relaxed and shut her eyes. There was something immensely alleviating about laying in beautiful landscape completely untouched by the android trio. It almost felt safe, guarded and almost unnatural to Tank.

Next to her, she heard shuffling, then someone standing. "Hey, Tank, they're serving cake." May pointed to the long line of tables.

Tank practically flew to her feet. "Race you!" She laughed and jogged ahead.

May pouted. "Hey, no fair!" Then ran up the hill after Tank.

"Vanilla or chocolate?"

"Both, please!"

Tank scooped up a large chunk with her utensil and happily chewed vanilla and chocolate goodness. Still swallowing her first bite, she prepared another, finally hearing May panting towards her.

Suddenly, there was a shift in the ground beneath them then a massive force of wind and a _bang! _ofwhat sounded like a blast of thunder. Herds of birds scurried into the skies and the Android warning sirens pierced around from the nearest city. Three tiny dots appeared near the clouds then in a swift arc of movement, two young looking people stood nonchalantly a hundred yards away from the group.

Tank dropped her cake and nearly choked as her friend hid behind her. May softly whimpered next to her, flinching as if unsure to follow her instincts and run or remain frozen in fear.

_The Androids? It must be them._ Tank had never seen them with her own eyes before but the terrorized descriptions from the newspapers and radio broadcasts fit them like pieces to a puzzle: a raven haired male clad in a red scarf, black shirt and blue jeans, a beautiful blonde girl in a blue vest and another male of similar height and build as the other two clad in a dark green jumpsuit with long red hair swept into a ponytail.

_But they look like normal humans! Could those three really have that much power?!_

Even from such a distance, Tank could see their smirks and icy blue eyes. _They're...enjoying frightening us!_

It was the first time Tank could place faces to those who had killed her father and most of her mother's friends. She balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. Unimaginable anger boiled within from head to toe, dying for her to crumble and distort the androids with her bare hands.

The blonde female flipped her flowing hair behind her ear while uttering an annoyed statement to her companion who had his eyes set on their coach bus. With a limp extended arm, the bus was blasted into debris.

Tank could feel the blood drain from her face. Such power. She had never seen anything like it before. She reluctantly turned and gazed upon a dozen fear-stricken faces, most of the children too petrified to cry. Several of the kids were already positioning themselves against the trees, hunched with their heads covered in their arms. _No, _Tank thought, _didn't they see what I saw? Those drills won't work. _The parents of the birthday girl held their daughter close, her crying partially silenced by their tight embrace.

The redhead nudged his head impatiently at the parents and child, perhaps annoyed by her crying. Tank noticed how they all wore matching hoop earrings.

"Hey, 17, 18? I think we're barging in on a birthday party." Said the redheaded male, pointing to the bright colored balloons.

"Birthday party huh? It doesn't seem like they're having a lot of fun." The darker-haired one uttered, smirking cruelly as the shaking children.

The blonde set her hands to her hips and gazed upon the now torn decorations. "Hmm, how rude of them not to invite us?"

In another swift blur of movement, the three androids appeared in front of the parents. Everyone flinched back in their steps, too scared to flee. The parents tightened their grip on their child and shut their eyes. The shadows of the androids draped over the three individuals as they inched closer. Even from the distance, in such silence, Tank could hear the mumbled prayers of the father. She watched slowly as the androids each pointed a finger at the group.

A blast of blinding yellow light was all Tank could see before she was sharply pulled in the opposite direction at her wrist by May, forcing her to sprint into the forest.

"Run, Tank!" May choked out, her throat tight with heavy cries. The sunlight disappeared as they ran deeper and deeper into the forest. Tank's wrist grew numb in May's lock; Tank had no idea that May was so strong. Tank couldn't bear to peer behind to see whether or not the androids had disappeared from sight.

_Why run? _Tank thought grimly. _Why don't they just wipe us all out with one blast? Wait! Maybe Kinto-un could get us out of here! But what about the others—_

The two girls shrieked as the ground rolled beneath them, tossing them like dolls through the air. May hit her forehead and chest, her vision went black for a moment. The ground rocked more as she fought her trembling muscles to stand. Unable to balance on the moving ground, she fell to her knees. She wept for her lost hope, so sure that the androids were right after them.

Instead, vicious screams echoed through the branches in the distance along with the cracking breakage of the tree trunks.

_What? They have the power to kill us all in a second...wait, they're playing with us._

Tank's nails cut into her hands, her teeth grinding so hard that she thought they would shatter. Another tree fell; Tank jumped to May and pulled at her shoulder. "Come on! We have to keep going. Get up!"

May's hair curtained over her face, sticking to the tear stains on her cheeks. On any other day, Tank could lift May easily but she was shaking so hard she couldn't concentrate.

"Come on, May!" Tank cried in desperate frustration.

Another tree fell, this time closer; Tank's heart raced.

"May! They're getting closer!" Tank pleaded.

In response, May curled up into a ball and bawled into her arms. "I want my mother!"

Tank cried harder and her knees shook so severely that she could barely stay on her feet.

Another tree fell nearly behind them. Tank snapped her grip off May and ran off alone. She couldn't wipe away her tears fast enough, unable to fully clear her vision, nearly tripping on debris.

"Hey, wait for me!" May exclaimed, her pounding steps unsteady but catching up to Tank.

Before Tank could peer back, a line of energy sliced into a tree trunk, which fell and caught May's legs. May's horrendous scream halted Tank, who twisted back sharply. May was scratching at the dirt, trying to claw her way out, but it was useless. The weight of the tree had crashed her legs, breaking her bones like toothpicks.

Tank's heels dug into the dirt, frozen, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

May's head lifted and her tiny dirty hand reached out. She weakly mouthed, _help me!_

Tank's hand tightened into fists. Maybe she could lift the tree. She had definitely lifted heavier things before. But... She stumbled back, unable to proceed forward.

A loud male laughter cackled above them. "Hey 17! I got another! Ten more points!"

Tank groaned and shut her eyes, unable to see May's face as she viciously shook her head and ran away.

_Forgive me._

"...but you didn't kill it." Answered the female.

The following blast of energy hit so close that Tank was forcibly thrown into the air. Something hit her head and her conscious slipped away for a while.

Sunlight heated the left side of her body and a rush of adrenaline caused Tank to turn over. "May..." Tank muttered, still hearing falling debris behind her. She didn't know how far the androids were, but she scrambled to her knees then feet despite her pounding head and disorientation.

"Oh, darn! That means we're tied!" Uttered one of the males, annoyed.

Tank crouched against a tree, welcoming the shadows. Maybe if she held her position, she wouldn't be seen.

The three androids hovered over the forest, debating together.

"Is that all of them?"

"I don't remember, didn't you count them?"

"There sure are a lot of trees. More could be hiding."

The three held out their pairs of hands and aimed at the forest, cutting several trees at once with each blast. Birds took to the sky as the ground crumbled from impact. Tank held onto her own tree, not knowing what to do. She looked down the hill, maybe she could slip away without being noticed. It was too late to call for Kinto-un. She couldn't wait until her own tree was ripped away. Without a second thought, she sprinted down the hill, jumping over shrubbery and tree roots, begging to go unfounded.

Suddenly, three trees snapped around Tank and wrapped her head in her arms for protection. Nothing hit her, but the beaming rays of the sun leaked through the strands of her hair and the gap between her arms.

A sinister laugh sent a shiver up Tank's spine. "I found one! It can be the tie breaker!"

Tank took off running despite the sudden cramping in her leg. Lines of energy blasted the ground around her, some just barely missing her torso and foot.

"Speedy little devil!" The androids cackled maliciously.

The edge of the forest was approaching with the continuing landscape being bleached out by sunlight. Tank didn't know where she would go next but she didn't have another plan. She jumped over the last tree root and gasped as she fell back onto her butt, mist brushing against her nose.

The waterfall.

She jumped to her feet and peeked over the edge carefully. Steep rock disappeared into a foggy mist with the crashing sounds of water down below. No end in sight. Tank gulped.

Panicking, she turned and saw the three androids flying slowly, as if to be cruel, towards her.

"Please...fly." Shaking so severely, bursts of her energy just lifted her up a few inches but unsteadily.

Suddenly a blast of energy singed her shoulder blade, which threw Tank over the edge of the cliff. She screamed as the mist engulfed her thickly that even the smirks of the androids disappeared as they landed on the fall's edge. Her scream faded and faded until her body could be seen no more.

The androids landed in unison and approached edge.

"No fair. You said we were going to wait until after we landed." The female android groused, crossing her arms unsatisfactorily.

"You're just a sore loser." Smiled the darker-haired male android, hands on his hips, admiring his work.

"Did it die before or after it fell into the waterfall?" The redhead mused.

"I don't know." The brunet answered.

The blonde turned away and gazed at the now diminished forest. "So how do you know if you got it?"

"What? Are you planning on giving the waterfall ten points?" The brunet roared.

The female groaned angrily and flew away in the opposite direction.

"You're still angry because I blew up that clothing store." The brunet followed her with the redhead trailing close behind, all three forgetting about the waterfall.

* * *

Tank still felt conscious. Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked rapidly to clear her vision in the mist. She inhaled a deep, panicked breath. Just a few feet, she hovered over the sharp rock poking through the waterbed. She was alive.

She reached out nervously, trying to balance her energy. Her energy was waning fast; she floated cautiously through the mist until a clear sight of land appeared. She waited until she shadowed over grass to lower herself. The moment her heels touched the ground, Tank fell to her knees and bawled into her muddy sleeves.

Her lungs burned like fire, her legs were sore and heavy like dead weights, and she could barely breathe through the tears and snot running down her face. Trying to crawl under the shade of the tree, a piercing pain took her breath away. Gasping, Tank reached for her back and flinched. Her fingertips grew wet and sticky with blood and her shoulder shook severely, too tender to be touched. Her fingers quivered as the blood dripped into her palm. Suddenly tired, fuzzy black spots speckled Tank's vision and she stumbled forward, losing consciousness before she hit the cool grass.

* * *

I hope that wasn't too gruesome (I hope no one says that wasn't gruesome enough...) Feel free to tell me what you thought and I'll see you all again soon for chapter five.

Timelines again...

1) Main time

2) Future Trunks (unseen)

3) Tank & Cell

4) When Tank ventured into the past to warn Goku

5) After Cell stole the machine, Tank followed him to this timeline.


End file.
